


One White Blank Page

by Zamora



Series: Between Galaxies and Supernovas [1]
Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Culture, Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Mentions of Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Mentions of previous attempts of suicide, Near Death Experiences, Slow Burn, but there's fluff too, lots of alien headcanons, okay maybe not so light, sometimes things have to get pretty dark before they can get light again, though the enemies stage is really short
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-01-05 22:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 90,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18375245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zamora/pseuds/Zamora
Summary: When aliens invade earth, everyone's first thought is that the world is going to end. But instead of declaring war, the aliens claim to want peace.After Britain makes an alliance with one of the sects of aliens in the form of a royal marriage, several other countries follow suit.It isn't until a sect of aliens makes contact with America, that Roxanne's life irrevocably changes. As she quickly learns, an arranged marriage to an alien prince is nothing to scoff at. Especially when said prince always seems to know just how to throw her off-kilter.





	1. Prologue

An alien invasion. Of course. How else would the world come to a halt? Roxanne scoffed at the thought of it as she quickly downed another mojito. 

The invasion had begun half a year ago. Massive, gleaming white spaceships setting down in various bodies of water around the world, every ocean and sea was confirmed to have one of the extraterrestrial ships anchored in its waters. 

There had been widespread panic for days, cities shut down, people abandoned their jobs, the government attempted to make contact. 

But nothing happened.

For two whole months, nothing happened. There were no aliens coming to shore demanding human sacrifices, there were no unusual missing persons cases, no plagues, no sudden bouts of extraterrestrial warfare. 

Everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

It was the very first day of the third month that they finally made contact in Britain. She could still remember watching the news reports. Hell, she could still remember doing her own news report. The footage replayed in her mind on a loop for a week at least. The words replaying in her head like a scratched record. 

_“No, no. We have no need for slaves.”_

_“A war? What could we possibly want with a war?”_

_“We’d like to share the planet with you. Our species could have a symbiotic relationship.”_

_“And what do you suggest? For this show of good faith that you request of us?”_

_“Human history has many recorded cases of alliances by marriage, our species is not unused to this method of making allies.”_

_“You are the Queen of England, you have princes, do you not?”_

_“Wonderful. Our firstborn is a female, she can pick whichever one she prefers.”_

She swallowed as she shook away the memory. The aliens had been so much more… human, than she’d expected. Two legs, two arms, ten fingers, no extra eyes, or mouths, or noses. Sure, their anatomy wasn’t exactly the same. They were thinner than regular humans, their limbs just a little too long, every single one of them was bald, their skulls considerably larger than any humans. Really though, the most noticeable difference was their vibrant blue skin. Objectively, they were a beautiful race of people, smooth and flawless and graceful. Or maybe it was just Roxanne who thought that, she’d had a thing for aliens when she was a kid. Maybe she hadn’t grown up so much after all.

She pushed the thought away with a grumble, setting her now empty mojito glass down far more roughly than she meant to before swooping up another one. “Stupid aliens. Stupid government. Stupid raffle.” She grumbled under her breath as she tipped back the fresh drink; trying, and failing, to forget about the reason she was here in the first place.

After that first contact, others followed suit. India, Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Italy, and several other countries that had coastlines along oceans or seas were met by aliens. All of whom were fully prepared to offer up their daughters, or request wives for their sons, as a show of good faith. A living, flesh and blood peace treaty. 

Shortly after those countries had announced that the weddings had been finalized, their GDP and economic standing had skyrocketed. Suddenly they were curing cancer, and aids, and alzheimer's. They were running entirely off of green energy within a month. It was staggering. The way things had changed so suddenly. After the first few marriages, most countries were chomping at the bit to throw their own kids to the aliens.

America had been one of the last countries to be contacted. The aliens that came had only one child, a son, and the President’s daughter was already married with three children of her own. So, he offered to have the Governor of each state offer up a daughter if they had one to offer. Every Governor with a daughter between the age of twenty and thirty that was unmarried was to be placed in a ‘drawing’. Roxanne had rolled her eyes at the terminology the moment she heard it. But regardless of the way she argued with her parents, at the end of the day her father was still the Governor of Michigan, and she was still single, and still a few months away from the immune age of thirty-one. 

And so here she was, failing to drink her annoyance away, surrounded by twenty-six other families with younger, prettier daughters to offer. Daughters who _wanted_ to throw their life at an alien prince far more than she did. Why was she even here? Were twenty-six options not enough? For Christ's sake, the aliens weren’t even here. Even they cared so little that they were leaving the chances up to a glass ball filled with slips of paper with everyone's name on them.

Maybe she could just sneak up onto the stage and rip her name out? She grumbled at the thought. She knew it wouldn’t work. Besides, the chances that she would be picked were so slim that she really shouldn’t worry. She was just one name out of twenty-seven. The odds were definitely in her favor. She was willing to bet her future on a three point five percent chance… right?

“Roxanne!” Her mother's bubbly, bright voice cut through the hum of music and chatter. She quickly glanced over at her mother; watching as the woman beckoned her over with a frantic hand; her father, an older white man with silver hair, and a young blonde girl standing right behind her. Roxanne rolled her eyes at the obvious attempt to get her to socialize, but she made her way towards the small group regardless. “Come meet Mister Foster, the Governor of Montana.” She urged, grabbing her by the elbow as soon as she stepped close enough, and dragging her into the small circle of people.

“Mister Foster,” Roxanne greeted him as his dark brown eyes fell on her. “It’s a pleasure.” She offered simply, lifting a hand for him to shake.

“Indeed it is Miss Ritchi.” He responded, shaking her hand briefly before immediately turning back to her father and continuing whatever conversation they’d been having before her mother had decided to drag her into it. 

She let out a long sigh as she tried to figure out what to say to her mom, because she knew something along the lines of; _‘I really don’t want to be here right now, let alone deal with other people while I realize that my life isn’t really mine and that I might have to get married to an alien that I don’t know’_ really wouldn’t go over well. But before she could come up with some smooth, acceptable lie, her mother was already introducing her to the blonde girl. “And this is Sarah, his daughter.”

The girl gave her a long once-over, a smile that was just a little too sharp around the edges pulling at her mouth. “Forgive me, but I thought… aren’t you a little old to be in the raffle?” The question was pointed, and harsh in that sickly sweet way. God, Roxanne hated this. She hated politicians, and events were everyone complimented each other in that backhanded insulting way. Well. Two could play at that game.

“Aren’t you a little young?” Roxanne answered with a cutting question of her own. A dark, sinister glee filling her chest at the twinge that broke the girls' perfect expression for a moment. She didn’t get a response to her question as the girl spun on her heel and stalked off towards the refreshments table. Good. She’d won that petty battle.

“Roxanne, why do you have to be so scalding?” Her mother sighed a moment later, her voice tired. As though she’d been the one to step out of line.

“She was being rude, mother.” Roxanne answered, lifting a single eyebrow and taking a sip of her mojito before she explained, “I’m not going to let some kid treat me like that.”

Her mom lifted a single eyebrow and let out a long-suffering sigh before lifting an impatient hand and gesturing her away. Roxanne knew this part of the play well by now, she could practically her mother’s voice in her head as she walked off, _‘if you’re not going to play nice then just go be sullen somewhere where you won’t bother anyone’_. 

She really couldn’t understand it, why everyone seemed so happy to be potentially handing their daughters off to aliens. No. Scratch that. She knew why. Every country to enter into an ‘alliance’ with them had seen an instant economic boost the next day. Double, triple, or even quadruple what their economy had been worth overnight. They were politicians. They cared about the money. 

God, she could already hear it now. _My fellow Americans. We all know who to elect for President this year. We all remember how I gave up my precious daughter to boost our country into a new age of prosperity that none of us could have ever imagined. Would any other leader be so selfless for his citizens?_ She shivered at the thought, scooping a glass of champagne off of a server's tray as they passed by. Quickly taking a sip of the bubbly liquid as she tried to ward off the chill. 

She didn’t bother to keep track of every minute that ticked by. The only thing she even had to count the passage of time was the rapidly growing collection of empty glasses that she sat on the corner of the refreshments table. 

Some small voice in the back of her head warned her that she shouldn’t be drinking so much. That she was buzzed, if not a little drunk. But she really couldn’t stop herself. It was the only thing that made this event, and these people, even remotely bearable.

“Attention everyone!” A crisp, voice rang out through the speakers. All of the soft chatter filling the room quickly came to a stop, everyone’s attention falling on the stage at the front of the room. It took her a moment to get her eyes to focus on the man on the stage, and that voice in the back of her mind threw the word _drunk_ at her again. “Attention please!” The man added once more, even though he really didn’t have to. It took another drawn-out moment for her to realize that the man on stage was the President, a few secret service guards lingering in the shadows coating the corners of the stage.

“I hope you’ve all had a wonderful night, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you for being here. It’s only with your support, your willingness to give for your country, that we could do any of this.” Roxanne rolled her eyes at the flowy speech. She was so tired of listening to politicians say things that they really didn’t mean. “I have no doubt, that whichever young woman is picked will make her family, and this country very proud.” She bit her tongue at the sentence, her inner reporter begging to be set free. She wanted to waltz up to the stage and demand to know how many of these young women _wanted_ to be here. It was obvious that a few felt just as poorly about the situation at hand as she did. “So, I guess you all want me to end the anticipation right?” He questioned, kicking up his showmanship a notch and earning a loud chorus of approval from the crowd.

The President covered his eyes with a hand overdramatically before dipping his hand into the clear bowl and twirling the pieces of paper around. Roxanne’s throat tightened at the scene, her heart pounding in her chest as she silently prayed _please not me please not me_. He plucked a piece of paper from the bowl, raising it slowly before dropping it back in. Roxanne grit her teeth at the motion, it was clearly meant to be playful, but really, did he not notice the fact that he was toying with peoples fucking lives? He dipped his hand back in the bowl, grabbing a single slip of paper before pulling it out. 

“And now, for the moment we've all been waiting for.” He spoke up as he pulled his hand away from his eyes. “The woman picked for the raffle is...” He trailed off, and Roxanne swore that if she ground her teeth together any harder that she was going to crack a filling. She watched as he smoothed out the folded piece of paper, every second of silence a short eternity of suffering. “Roxanne Ritchi!” His voice rang out into the room and it felt as though the floor had fallen out from underneath her. The sound of her blood pounding in her veins was practically deafening, and she swore for a moment that she forgot how to breathe.

She had to be dying. This is what dying felt like.

“Miss Ritchi, come on up here!” The President requested in that all too light and joyful tone of his.

Roxanne didn’t think that she could will herself to move if her life depended on it. She couldn’t even feel her legs. Was she still standing up?

“Go on, Roxanne.” Her mother’s hushed voice whispered in her ear as a small, gentle hand pushed her towards the stage. 

She stumbled the first step. And then numbly, as though her body had turned onto autopilot mode without her permission, her legs were carrying her towards the stage. She was barely even aware of the people parting for her, like Moses parting the Red Sea. Everything was fuzzy and dreamlike, and she felt so unattached to the moment. Oh God, the drinks had definitely been a bad choice.

Somehow, she made it up the stairs and found herself standing in front of the crowd. A spotlight blinding her as the President wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Miss Ritchi, everyone. The darling of Metro City.” The sound of applause filling the room barely even registered in her mind. Everything was happening too fast, it was too hot, everything was swaying even though she knew it really shouldn’t be. “Roxanne, do you have anything you’d like to say?”

It took a moment for the question to register in her mind, and she knew she had to say something. The question was less of an offer, and more of a prompt. He wanted his PR spotlight after all. Before she even had an idea of what to say, he was speaking up again. “I think we’ve got a mild case of stage-fright on our hands.” 

A chuckle came from the crowd, and she pursed her lips into a thin line as she tried to shake some of the fog from her mind. Stage-fright. As if. She was a reporter, she didn’t get stage-fright. She didn’t have a chance to explain that stage-fright, and being forced to wrap your head around a life-changing event in less than a minute were two entirely different things before he quickly wrapped up his little speech. “Let’s hear it one last time for Miss Ritchi!” 

Another chorus of applause filled the room as he led her from the stage, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders like a vice. She wasn’t sure exactly how long it took, and she couldn’t remember exactly how it happened, but the next time she blinked she was standing in front of her mom and dad. The President’s arm still wrapped around her as she noticed the tense lines around her father’s eyes, the fake smile plastered on his face. She could even read some discomfort in the form of her mother's taunt shoulders. It surprised her, the sudden knowledge that they were just as concerned as she was.

She could feel the President’s chest rumble as he spoke, but his voice was a drone in the back of her mind that she couldn’t make out, all white noise. She blinked a few times as drew in a deep breath and managed to slip out from under his arm; offering him, and her family, what she hoped looked like an apologetic and not at all hysterical or crazy smile as she quickly stated, “If you’ll excuse me for a moment I think I could use some fresh air.” 

She managed to slip past the few people that clearly wanted to talk to her, making her way towards the balcony with determined strides. Fresh air. She just needed to be away from all of these people and this suffocating heat for a bit. She needed a second of peace and quiet to think and breathe. 

She practically heaved out a sigh when she stepped out onto the balcony, the icy air stinging her bare arms and calves as she leaned against the white stone railing. She braced her weight on the smooth stone as she leaned over it, resting her forehead against the icy rock as she drew in a rough breath. 

It took a minute for her breathing to calm, for some small part of her to realize that she’d been having a mild panic attack. And it took several more minutes for her to finally feel like the world had stopped spinning, like she wasn’t going to be sick, like her limbs were numb from the cold rather than burning from the heat inside. 

_It was going to be alright. She could handle this. There were plenty of girls in there who wanted to do this. She was just going to walk back in there, find one of them, and give them her spot. That was allowed, right? It had to be allowed. She wasn't the Government’s property, and this wasn't a draft for war._

“A little cold out here, don’t you think?” The deep, unexpected voice made her jump. Pulling her from her internal monologue as she quickly straightened up and turned to face the stranger. He looked just like every other politician hiding inside; late forties or early fifties, graying hair, a suit that he clearly spent too much on. His watch was neat though. Very… eccentric for someone who was supposed to emanate ‘safe’ and ‘boring’.

“I can’t be in there right now,” Roxanne offered simply, shrugging in the most nonchalant way she could manage before she turned her sights back out towards the glittering lights of the city. “I just… need a minute.” She added as he stopped a foot away from her, leaning his back against the railing as he stared at her.

She did her best to ignore the heat from his gaze, but after half a minute she finally decided to give up on the notion of ‘peace and quiet’. “Do I know you?” She questioned, her voice slightly scathing as she glanced over at him, her eyes resting on his vibrant green ones. 

The second the words died a smile lit up his face, he certainly had the most… animated, politicians smile she’d ever seen. Somehow inviting and too sharp around the edges at the same time. “Not yet.” He offered, some almost playful inflection in his voice. 

“Not yet?” Roxanne parrotted, shaking her head as she let out a soft chuckle. “That’s a bit bold don’t you think?”

His too sharp smile grew at the question, and he leaned in an inch or two before he quipped, “Being bold runs in my veins.”

Roxanne lifted a single, unimpressed eyebrow at the semi-obvious come on. Well… at least she knew how to deal with flirting men. “Does it now?” She questioned, sounding only mildly intrigued as she watched him quickly check his watch, her eyes lingering on its jagged hands; familiar almost, sort of reminiscent of lightning bolts.

“Of course it does. Power is all about presentation, after all.” He answered, his voice growing slightly more serious even though it retained its lighthearted veneer. 

“Ah, so you’re a politician. Which state is yours?” Roxanne questioned, pressing for information. Watching as his glittering green eyes drifted back up to meet hers, some almost wary expression in place on his face. “Does your daughter want my spot? Because I could fake my own death or something.” She chuckled at the not entirely playful question. At this point, faking her own death and restarting was sounding easier by the minute. She could grow her hair out, get colored contacts, change her name to Rachel or Rosemary or something. 

The man's expression quickly darkened. The too sharp smile fading as a small line appeared between his eyebrows, his lips pursing into a thin line. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Miss Ritchi.” He murmured softly, his voice several notes lower than normal as he stepped towards her. Her stomach clenched at the slight movement, something inside of her screaming _warning_ , _danger_ , _run_. 

“I um…” She trailed off with a nervous chuckle as she leaned towards the double doors that would open up to a crowd of people, to safety. “It actually is a little cold out here. I’m gonna, head inside where it’s warmer.” Roxanne finished, only managing one step towards the door before the stranger's arm shot out, his hand wrapping around her wrist and pulling her to a stop with ease.

She startled at the sudden contact, attempting to wrench her hand free from the gentle yet iron-tight grip as his quiet voice filled the air once more. “I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere.” A sudden flare of panic rose up in her chest at the simple words, her voice failing her for a moment as she watched him pull some small spray can out of his pants pocket before giving it a quick shake. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d hate to start this relationship out with a lie.” The too sharp smile quickly reappeared as he spoke, his words immediately followed by a cloud of gas from the aerosol can, some slightly sweet taste coating her tongue as she tried to cough.

“Wha-” She didn’t get a chance to get any more of the protest out before everything was going blurry around the edges of her vision. The world started going dark as her legs gave out underneath her. The last thing that she was vaguely aware of before everything slipped beyond the grasp of her consciousness was the feeling of two arms catching her before she could land on the cold hard ground.


	2. Day One - Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the amazing comments! 
> 
> I meant for this chapter to be longer, but Sunday rolled back around before I realized and I'm breaking it into two separate chapters.

Roxanne groaned slightly as she came to. The first thing she noticed was the pain radiating through her skull, a steady thrum of discomfort that followed the beat of her heart. The second thing that came to her attention was the way she couldn’t seem to move her hands. It took a moment for her sluggish, sleep riddled brain to realize that there was a reason she couldn’t move. She was tied up. Ropes pinning her hands behind herself.

Her first instinct was to panic, to struggle. But before her mind could make her leaden limbs move, she thought better of it. She quickly thought back to the last thing she could remember. The raffle dinner. Her name being called. A stranger with silver hair and green eyes grabbing her wrist. The way everything faded to black after he sprayed her with that stuff in a can. 

The icy trickle of fear that suddenly seeped into her veins made her freeze momentarily, and she forced herself to take a few deep breaths before she devolved into a panic attack. She’d been drugged.

She’d been drugged and now she was tied up. She tried to swallow, to get rid of the cotton mouth feeling, only to realize that she was gagged too. Another brief flare of panic rose in her chest, an unwanted, smothered noise of distress escaping her throat before she managed to swallow it down. It took another second for her to realize that the inky darkness surrounding her was due to the strip of fabric tied around her eyes.

Drugged. Tied up. Gagged and blindfolded. Great. Just great. It was like she’d won the lead role in a horror movie. 

She could feel another panic attack coming on, and she quickly reminded herself to breathe as she tested the ropes on her wrists. She was tied to something, a chair most likely. Whoever tied her up knew what they were doing, the knots were strong, the rope tight enough to hold her secure but not tight enough to cut the circulation off from her hands. 

That had to be a good thing. Right? A kidnapper that showed small mercies might be more prone to show kindness in other ways too. 

She pulled at the ropes again, too hard this time. The chair rocked precariously onto two legs as a small, muffled shriek escaped her mouth. She could feel the moment that she lost the battle against gravity, the chair leaning past the tipping point. She tensed up, trying to prepare for the impending impact, but it never came. Something stopped the chair before it could fall, pushing it back into place. The legs setting down on the floor with a soft clicking noise.

“Miss Ritchi.” A smooth, distinctly male voice with a hint of a foreign accent that she couldn’t quite place spoke up from beside her, and she flinched slightly at the sudden knowledge that she wasn’t alone. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you.” The voice added, dipping lower as it turned almost sultry. She swallowed at the words, feeling the fabric of the makeshift gag pull tighter for a just a moment before it fell away entirely.

“What is going on here? Who are you? Do you have any idea who I am?” Roxanne spat the second she could speak again, her voice hoarse as it clawed its way up her throat. 

“Yes. I'm well aware of who you are.” The voice answered after a brief pause, gentler this time than it was before. Another lingering moment of silence dragged on as Roxanne tried to decide if threatening him or pleading with him would work better. Before she could pick one method over the other he was speaking up again, his voice light and almost mockingly playful, “Do you have any idea who I am?” 

Roxanne grit her teeth at the question, was he trying to turn this into a joke? He’d drugged and stolen her, he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison if she had any say in it. “Some creepy serial killer?” She bit back, struggling against the ropes once more.

“Oooh!” The voice gasped, still annoyingly playful as the stranger quickly added, “Good guess but you'll have to try again.” 

“Let me go,” Roxanne demanded, her voice low and dangerous as she leaned forward, pulling her arms against the hard frame of the chair.

“Only if you promise to scream.” The stranger returned a half-second later, a hint of threat underlying the veneer of playfulness. “Or run.” He added, a soft, almost sinister chuckle filling the air as he finished, “I do love a good chase.” 

“I swear to God when I get out of this!” Roxanne shouted, struggling against the ropes with renewed vigor; but whatever she’d been drugged with left her feeling heavy and weak, and she gave up much sooner than she wanted to. 

“What do you swear?” The stranger questioned curiously, his voice hardly more than a whisper. 

“I will destroy you.” She grit out between her teeth. He couldn’t keep her like this forever, he’d have to untie her at some point. When that time came, she just hoped that the pounding headache and general fatigue had subsided. She knew that she had no chances of escaping in the state she was in right now.

“Dangerous.” The stranger quipped, his voice suddenly playful once again, that sultry undertone tainting the word, “You're so feisty. I quite like it.” 

“If you think I'm feisty now then why don't you take off the ropes?” Roxanne questioned, trying to go along with whatever game this man thought he was playing. As much as she wanted to throw a long list of choice words at him, she knew that it wasn’t in her best interest to go out of her way to piss him off, especially when she was so vulnerable. A soft, rumbling chuckle filled the air at her question. Something about it seemed odd; the raspy, rough sort of rumbling sound that underlied it sounded like it belonged more to a large predatory cat than a human.

When the sound died silence dragged on for a few seconds before an entirely new voice broke through the silence. 

“Sir?” Roxanne’s heart stuttered in her chest at the single word. Had this new person been here the whole time, or had they stumbled in just recently? Perhaps her rescue was closer than she originally anticipated. 

“Yes, Minyn?”

“Oh! Is that -”

“Indeed it is, my friend.” The owner of the original voice cut the new person off before they could finish. 

_Friend_. They were friends. She was probably unlikely to receive help from her kidnapper's friend, but it wouldn’t do any harm to try. She was beginning to get the distinct feeling that if her captor wanted to hurt her he would have by now, and she doubted that the attempt at mutiny would end in any harm for her. “Hey, let me out of here! This psychopath kidnapped me!”

“Oh, I wish I could Ma'am. But…” The voice trailed off for a moment before quickly finishing, “Until Sir delegates otherwise my orders come from him and him alone.” Roxanne groaned at the answer. Of course. It’s not like she’d been expecting a miracle, but come on, give a girl a break.

“How about we come to a happy medium?” The first strangers' voice spoke up, a short beat of quiet passing before he explained, “I won't let you go quite yet, but I'll take off the blindfold. Hmm?” 

Roxanne practically swore that her heart skipped a beat at the offer. Finally. She was starting to get somewhere. “What are you waiting for then?” She asked, her voice pointed. Sure, she was excited at the prospect of getting to see again, but that certainly didn’t get rid of the simple fact that she’d been drugged _and_ kidnapped; and if that made her a little harsher than normal, then so be it.

“Well, for you to ask nicely, of course.” Her captor chuckled, and she grit her teeth at the humor in his voice.

“I'm not going to beg for you. I have dignity.” Roxanne ground out, testing the ropes around her wrists once more.

“Did you hear that, Minyn?” The voice questioned excitedly, before breaking off into a fit of giggles. Yep. Definitely giggles, Roxanne decided. Which seemed odd to her. She’d never exactly pictured the type of person who kidnapped people to be prone to breaking down into giggles. “Oh Goddess, she's perfect.” The words were soft, whispered. And Roxanne held back a shiver at the feeling of his breath ghosting against the back of her ear. 

The next thing she knew the fabric of the blindfold pulled taunt before it was pulled up over her head. The bright, fluorescent lights stung her eyes. Everything blindingly bright as her headache pounded away at her skull with renewed vigor. She groaned at the pain, at the ungodly bright light, at the way that her eyes refused to turn anything they saw into recognizable shapes. 

It took a few lingering moments for her vision to clear. Everything was white. Too white. Sterile.

She didn’t have long to focus on the room she was in before her captor was stepping around to stand before her. Her breath stuttered to a stop as her eyes quickly roamed up the man's almost unnaturally thin frame before stopping at his face.

Blue.

The single word echoed in her mind as a smirk quickly covered his face. 

She’d been kidnapped by an alien. This was decidedly worse than being kidnapped by a human. She knew that a human would likely only be interested in ransom money. What did an alien want with her? To steal her away to keep her from marrying the prince? For something more sinister? It wasn’t like she knew very much about them.

She tried to put the puzzle pieces together in her foggy mind. She’d been kidnapped by an alien. An alien who had a suspiciously similar eye color to the politician last night. There was no way they could be the same person though. She was in a basically empty, sterile white room. Only a huge screen with what appeared to be scrawling computer code on the wall before her, and a grey, plush rolling chair sitting in front of her own seat. Even the owner of the other voice she’d heard was nowhere in sight. Behind her maybe? There had to be a doorway behind her, maybe he was standing in the threshold of it? 

“Who are you?” Roxanne demanded, her voice wavering as she spoke. She tried to swallow down the unease building within her before she added, “Where am I?” 

The alien tilted his head a bit at the question, his tongue darting out to wet his lips before he answered, “You, are 30 miles from the coast of New York, in the Atlantic Ocean.” 

Panic welled up in her chest at the answer. Thirty miles? She sincerely doubted that she could swim thirty miles even if she escaped. “And who are you?” Roxanne pressed again, doing her best to ignore her ever-rising anxiety.

“You're telling me you don't know?” He gasped almost theatrically, pressing a hand to his chest as he gave her a narrow-eyed expression that screamed of mock insult. 

Jesus Christ, were they all this expressive? His face was like a roadmap for his emotions. 

“Very well then, allow me to introduce myself.” He sighed dramatically a moment later, crouching down onto his haunches in front of her as he buffed his fingernails on the front of his shirt. He pulled his hand away a moment later, his eyes skimming over his hand for a moment before flitting back over to meet hers. “I am the incredibly handsome master of the Auris division of the Cerau branch of the Amerdea.” He explained, no small amount of pride tainting each word. 

“Future master, sir.” The other stranger's voice piped in, and Roxanne flinched slightly at the noise. Making a silent mental note of the fact that the door was _definitely_ behind her. 

“Yes, Minyn.” The alien sighed, rolling his eyes as he stood back up to his full height. He rolled his wrist as he amended, “ _Future_ master.” 

It took a moment for the implications of the words to sink in, her eyes growing wide as she shook her head, “You're…” Roxanne trailed off, her eyes quickly roaming across his figure once again. “You're the prince.” She breathed, her disbelief more than obvious in every word.

“Indeed, Miss Ritchi.” He answered simply, lifting a single eyebrow as he stared down at her as though he was trying to figure out what was going on in her mind.

“Why did you kidnap me?” Roxanne shouted, a mixture of anger and confusion warring within her. They were going to get married for fuck's sake! And this was how he decided to try and start out the relationship? What was the point? Did he want to scare her? Was this some joke? It wasn’t like she was his property. Oh, God. What if she was his property? What if his culture was ridiculously patriarchal or something?

“Tradition!” He exclaimed, throwing his arms out at his sides before falling back into the plush rolling chair and rolling back a few feet. “I assure you, this happens to everyone at some point in time.”

“Let me go.” Roxanne demanded, leveling him with her best 'mom look’. Unfortunately, he was unphased by it, an explicitly unimpressed expression etched into his features. 

“Even if I let you out of the ropes, _which I do not intend to do until you understand the situation at hand_ , you'll still be trapped on this ship.” He explained simply, shrugging a shoulder indifferently as he stared at her with those almost neon green eyes.

Roxanne tried to ignore the lump growing in her throat, but this was all too much. Her headache was pounding, her arms were beginning to ache from being tied up for so long, she was thirsty and nauseous, and her God damn fiance was to blame for all of it. And the cherry on top, he didn't even seem to care. “I never even got to say goodbye to my parents you heartless fuck!” She shouted, yanking at the ropes so roughly that she swore she nearly dislocated a shoulder; her angry voice echoing in the barren room as she winced at the pain that lanced through her arm. 

His expression turned almost wounded at her words, something like concern making his eyes widen as he leaned forward in his seat. “Now now.” He murmured softly, his voice unexpectedly gentle, “It's not like you're never going to see them again.”

“I'm going to see them again?” Roxanne questioned suspiciously, every word slow and deliberate. 

“Of course you are.” He answered immediately, no hint of falsity in his words. A beat of silence dragged on as Roxanne tried to decide if he was being honest or if he was lying to her to get her to calm down. He let out a long sigh as the second ticked on, leaning back into his chair and folding his hands on his lap before he explained, “My culture has a certain, very scheduled, sort of courtship ritual. I kidnapped you because it's tradition. Part of the courtship.” 

“And you thought it would work?” Roxanne questioned, a derisive scoff escaping her as she shook her head. “Does that work on your women?”

“Oh Goddess, no. It never works.” He chuckled, waving a hand in the air as he spoke. His smile faded slightly as he leveled her with his gaze as he went on, “Also, we are an equal opportunity species, thank you very much. Men are kidnapped just as frequently as women are.” She barely even noticed the mock indignation in his tone, too caught up in the implication that his society was much more indifferent to gender than she originally anticipated. 

“Everyone is always irate just like you are. That's the point.” He continued, clearly not noticing that he was giving her a lot of information to process all at once. “If you can endure your partner's wrath at its worst, then you can endure the storms of marriage.” He recited the words as though he’d heard them repeated over and over again during the course of his life, rolling his eyes as he spoke. His face lit up a short moment later, a broad smile filling his features as he added, “Also, it opens up so much room for witty banter. My people enjoy a bit of a challenge, especially an intellectual one.” 

Roxanne lifted a single eyebrow at him as she stared back. So this was a game to him. He was having fun at her expense, and if that wasn’t infuriating, she didn’t know what was. “Is that why I'm tied up? You don't think you can handle my wrath?” She asked, a hint of a challenge in her voice. He seemed to consider her question for a moment, and she could tell that he understood the hidden message behind her words; ‘ _the only reason I’m tied up is because you’re scared of what I would do to you if you let me go_ ’.

“I'm sure there are several things you could throw at me that I would be unable to handle. Your wrath, is not one of them.” He answered smoothly a moment later, a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“If you're so sure of that then why don't you untie me?” 

“Clever.” He chuckled, shaking his head before pushing the chair to roll up to her side. “Such… tricks.” He began, his voice practically dipping down into a lower octave as his breath fanned across the side of her face with every rumbled word, “Won't work. On me.” 

Roxanne tried to ignore the lilt of his voice, the way the back of her neck was prickling with goosebumps, that was definitely just a side effect of being drugged. Nothing more. He wasn’t trying to be seductive, he was toying with her. Well. Two could play at that game. “Talk slower, please.” She murmured, her voice breathy as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. 

He sucked in a sharp breath at the words, visibly stiffening in his seat before he pushed himself back a few feet. “Temptress.” He hissed, shooting her a scathing glare even as a hint of a smile made the corners of his lips curl. Honestly, she couldn’t tell if he was playing or if she’d actually managed to get under his skin.

A lingering beat of silence hung in the air before his composed voice broke the quiet, “As I was saying, our courtship ritual is very scheduled. Only fourteen days in total, and if at the end of it you really don't want to be with me, you have every right to deny my marriage proposal.” Roxanne sucked in a breath at the new information. This was good, she was getting somewhere. She finally had some real information to work with. 

Fourteen days. That wasn’t too bad. Surely anyone could endure fourteen days, even if they turned out to be the worst fourteen days of their life. And she was free to go at the end of it! She didn’t have to say yes! Granted, going back home and telling everyone that she said no after winning the raffle wouldn't be met well by the media, and it certainly wouldn’t do any wonders for her father's career. But did that really matter? It wasn’t like she had to give her life away if _she_ didn’t want to. 

“But honestly, I'm not even going to need fourteen days. By day seven you'll be swooning.” He added confidently, offering her a too sharp smile as he lifted a single eyebrow. 

“I don't swoon.” Roxanne growled, giving him a sharp glare that only seemed to make his smile grow. 

“Maybe not for human men,” He chuckled, lifting a hand to his chest with a flourish as he immediately continued, “But you've never been with an Amerdea before.” 

Roxanne gave him a pointed look at the bold statement, while internally trying to ignore the fact that his native language sounded like some ridiculously addictive mix of rough alien consonants and rolling Spanish-like vowels. “Well, at least I only have to put up with this for fourteen days.” She sighed, relaxing back into her chair as she gave him a blank stare that she only hoped properly conveyed her boredom. 

His smile slowly faded at her words. His lips pressing into a thin line as he stared at her with scrutiny for long enough that it began to make her skin crawl. “You have a very cruel tongue.” He spoke up after what felt like an eternity. Roxanne opened her mouth to protest the accusation when he quickly continued, “You would make a wonderful Queen.” The words were laced with some sort of affectionate undertone that made her retort die in her throat. Okay. Unexpected compliment. Kind of? Maybe? 

A huge smile blossomed on his face before he wistfully finished, “I knew I did the right thing rigging the raffle.”

Whatever warmth the previous, unexpected compliment had given her before disappeared like the light from a candle being snuffed out. “Excuse me?” Roxanne breathed, her eyes wide as she stared back at him like a deer staring into the headlights of a car that was about to end its life.

“Oh, yes!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands together and rubbing them almost manically as he went on, “Every single slip of paper in that ball had your name on it, my dear.” 

“How?” The question was breathless as her heart did some sort of weird flip flop in her chest, beating erratically as she tried to swallow down a sudden wave of nausea. 

“I hacked the list of guests that would be attending the raffle, wrote down each and every name of all of my potential partners, and then used the world wide web to look everyone up.” He explained simply, his smile beaming with pride as he spoke. “Convenient, your internet.” He added almost like it was an afterthought. “I selected you as my top choice. Then it was a disguise here, a bribe there. It was child's play really.” He chuckled, shaking his head as his proud smile grew and his body shook slightly with his laughter.

Roxanne froze at the explanation, her whole body tensing as she wondered if she’d heard him right. His top choice? Her? _She_ was his top choice? He actually picked her? For a reason?

“Why me?” She whispered, fearing that if she tried to actually speak up that her voice would most definitely fail her. 

“Several reasons.” He answered simply, leaning forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his legs as he fixed her with another one of his unwavering gazes. “You're at the end of the age spectrum, more mature, closer to my own age. You've been around long enough to know _who_ you are. You have an identity. You will _never_ only be my wife. You'll always be Roxanne Ritchi first and foremost. That's important to me. That a person doesn't build their whole identity around the position I will one day hold.” He explained, and Roxanne tried to ignore the way those words affected her. 

Her whole life she’d had people tell her that she was too stubborn, too sarcastic, too sharp around the edges. That no one would ever want her if she didn’t pretend to be something she wasn’t. Her mother, her father, ex-boyfriends and ex-friends; they’d all told her that she was too much for anyone to handle in large doses, that it would be so much easier if she became something obedient, and soft, and small. 

_You’ll always be Roxanne Ritchi first and foremost. That’s important to me._

“On top of that, you're incredibly smart but not boastful about it. You graduated with your Bachelor's from Michigan State University with a 3.92 GPA.” He went on a moment later, clearly not noticing that she was nearly too caught up in her own thoughts to really even make sense of what he was saying. 

“I wasn't the valedictorian,” Roxanne breathed lamely, a small protest in response to the sudden wave of praise she was receiving.

“You took AP classes. Your valedictorian didn't.” He responded immediately, and Roxanne suddenly felt a little less flattered and a little more creeped out. How much research had he done? How many hours of his life had he spent reading about her and looking at pictures of her before they even met for the first time? “Like I said, you're incredibly smart.” He stated again, almost like he felt he needed to reinforce the idea or something. 

“I've seen your news reports, the last three years of them. You're an honest reporter, you have morals. But you also know when to play bad cop. An indispensable skill in my… line of lineage.” She swallowed as he went on. He’d watched three years of her reports… hours and hours spent staring at her on a screen. God, this was starting to get a little creepy. He’d _stalked_ her before he kidnapped her. “And that's all beside the point that I -” He trailed off suddenly, his mouth hanging open for a moment before he shut it decidedly, glancing down at the floor and swallowing thickly before a few almost awkward seconds of silence dragged on.

“That you?” Roxanne pressed, lifting a single eyebrow as she stared at the soft pink tint spreading over the peaks of his cheekbones. Was that? Was he _blushing_?

“I believe you're far more beautiful than any of those twenty-something, fake beach blonde, Miss America beauty pageant contestants.” He answered, his voice practically dripping with disdain, as though the thought of blonde hair dye was a personal affront to his beliefs. His eyes quickly snapped back up to meet hers as he softly added, “I couldn't have asked for a better mate if the Goddess sent her herself.” 

Roxanne swallowed at the compliment, silently praying that the searing heat she could feel spreading over her face wasn’t as apparent as it felt. Jesus fucking Christ. That was… he was being serious. He actually liked her. Holy shit. She’d never received a compliment like that in her life. No one had ever said that she was better than something _God_ could have sent. Oh, this was bad. This was so, so bad. He’d stalked her! He’d kidnapped her! And here she was trying to ignore the way her heart was racing, and her breath was way too short, and the very unwanted fluttering feeling starting up in her chest. _Stockholm Syndrome_ , her mind screamed at her. _You’re getting Stockholm Syndrome!_

Before she could fall too far down the rabbit hole of, _you can’t really be feeling anything for him you just met him twenty minutes ago_ ; his playful, sultry voice was breaking the silence once more, “Also! During my internet research, I found all of the old fanfictions you wrote when you were a teenager!” 

Suddenly, Roxanne’s heart was racing in her chest for an entirely different reason. Dread, and embarrassment, and fear coursing through her veins as she forgot to breathe for a moment. “No.” She breathed, shaking her head as her eyes lingered on his devilish smirk. That had been decades ago! She’d used a pen name! How? He had to be bluffing, right? Oh dear God, please let him be bluffing.

“Oh, yes.” He purred, his smile growing as he pushed the rolling chair forward a foot until he was purposely invading her personal space. “Do tell, Miss Ritchi. Is there a reason why every single fandom you ever wrote for was based around aliens?” She swallowed thickly at the question, her hands tightening into fists behind her back. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He actually knew… he actually… 

“I mean... the alien-human interspecies sex that I read all thanks to your overactive teenage mind.” He chuckled, biting his lower lip and raising an eyebrow as he gave her a quick once over. And Roxanne silently pleaded that she might be allowed the mercy of melting through the floor, or even dying. Death would be better than having to live through this. “You could make even me blush.” 

Roxanne quickly let her eyes drift down to the sterile white floor underfoot, fully aware of the fact that her face was certainly nothing less than beet red. “I was a kid.” She defended weakly, flinching back slightly from the unexpected touch when he gently grabbed her chin and tilted her head back up, his calloused fingertips unusually cool against her heated skin. 

“Oh. So you don't maybe… have a burning curiosity?” He questioned softly, using that same sultry, bedroom voice he’d used earlier as his fingertips slowly traced along the edge of her jaw before stopping right on top of her pulse point. “Some… yearning to know what it would be like to be with an alien?” 

“Untie me.” Roxanne had meant for the words to sound like more of a blatant demand, but the way her voice wavered made it sound more like a request. She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t comply, but she was grateful that he pulled his hand away at the words; she was having a hard enough time concentrating on the conversation when he kept his hands to himself.

“I don't hear any denial, Miss Ritchi!” He crowed as he lifted a hand to his ear, tilting his head towards her as he gave her a pointed look. 

“Are you done mocking me?” She ground out between her teeth, anger and pain and vulnerability making her far more volatile than she normally was.

His playful expression quickly faded at the harsh question, something distraught crossing his face as he lifted both of his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Oh no. Darling, I wasn't mocking you. The stories were quite good!” Roxanne would have rolled her eyes at the lame attempt to soothe her wounded pride, except it didn’t seem like a lame attempt. He actually seemed genuinely concerned. Repentant. “I wasn't lying, I got flustered!” He offered, another violet blush spreading across his cheeks as his eyes drifted down to the floor and a soft, almost self-conscious chuckle escaped him. One of his hands going up to rub the back of his neck. 

He seemed to brush aside whatever awkwardness he was feeling a second later, his eyes quickly flitting back up to meet hers as he went on, “I mean, sure you had a penchant for run-on sentences and overusing semicolons, but you were still in high school!”

Roxanne ground her teeth together at his words. Really? He thought that this was the time to pick apart the grammar flaws she had nearly two decades ago? 

“No judgment. I assure you.” He added a moment later, his face and the tone of his voice a case study in sincerity. 

She tried to ignore the effect the simple reassurance had. _He_ was an alien. He didn’t really have any room to judge her over decades old, cringy porn. Especially not when he was courting her! She was just as much of an alien to him as he was to her; if he was going to go calling her out on her _very old_ Xenophobic fantasies then she sure as hell would do the same thing to him. 

“It was another one of the reasons I picked you. It seemed like this might be a fantasy for you.” He added quite seriously, giving her a very no-nonsense look before his expression slowly crumbled into a playful smirk once more. “Like _I_ might be a fantasy for you.” He added, lifting an eyebrow as the blatant innuendo rolled off his tongue. 

Roxanne held back the urge to roll her eyes at him, giving him another one of her blatantly bored stares. She’d already decided by now that showing that he annoyed her only spurred him on. He enjoyed getting a reaction out of her, so she simply wouldn’t give him one. 

Her tactic seemed to work. His expression quickly faded, his enthusiasm dissipating as he slumped back into the embrace of his seat. “Of course, years have passed since then and you're not the same person anymore.” He sighed, lifting a hand and waving it lazily through the air as he spoke. 

“Sir?” The other stranger's voice broke the quiet and suddenly the embarrassment that had been wearing off hit Roxanne at full force again. He’d been here this whole time. He’d overheard everything. Dear fucking Christ. Couldn’t she catch a fucking break for once in her life? 

“Yes, Minyn?” Her fiance questioned, his eyes drifting to the person behind her as she tested the ropes around her wrists for the hundredth fruitless time. Doing her best to ignore the way they stung as they dug into her sensitive skin.

“It's breakfast time. Maybe you should untie your betrothed?” The unseen stranger suggested, his voice unsure. “Or, I mean… I could feed her if you wanted.” He offered, his voice brightening up slightly as he offered. Roxanne tried not to shudder at the offer. First of all, she could feed herself. Second of all, she was definitely still way too nauseous for food to sound good. Water, on the other hand. She would kill for a cold glass of water right now. 

“That won't be necessary, Minyn.” Her fiance offered simply as he stood up with that fluid alien grace that had captivated Roxanne so much the first time she’d ever seen footage of them. His footsteps were silent as he stepped around her chair, his cool fingers brushing against her wrists as her throat tightened. Was he really going to let her go? Oh God, she was so happy she could cry.

The ropes began to slacken after a moment, before falling away completely. The second Roxanne was free she bolted to her feet, swaying dangerously in her heels as her equilibrium failed to adjust to the sudden change. 

“Careful, Miss Ritchi.” Her fiance murmured, reaching out and steadying her, his fingers pressing lightly into her side. Roxanne held in a pained groan as she tried to shake the black dots swimming in her vision away. For a moment she thought that she might pass out, but the feeling subsided after a few lingering seconds. 

As soon as she was certain that she wasn’t going to fall over or pass out she pulled away from his touch, shooting his a scathing glare as she bit out, “I wouldn't have to be careful if you didn't drug me.” 

His hand fell limply to his side as he rolled his eyes at her, a tired sigh escaping him before he replied, “The hangover is hardly my fault. I assure you, I went to great lengths to ensure that your kidnapping wouldn't result in any harm to you.” 

“Did you?” She questioned, lifting one of her hands and pointing to the raw, bright red skin where the ropes had held her. 

“Why would you do this to yourself?” He questioned roughly, reaching up and grabbing her arm, pulling her closer as he inspected the swath of damaged skin. 

“I didn’t do this to myself! You kidnapped me! You tied me up!” Roxanne shouted, stepping closer to him until their chests were practically brushing.

“Yes, but I didn’t tell you to struggle.” He retorted, his voice dark as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“It’s what humans do, we struggle!” Roxanne bit back before ripping her arm out of his grasp as she whirled towards where she assumed the door had to be. She came to an abrupt halt as her eyes fell on the person standing in the doorway. If you could call it a person. In reality, it was a fish. A fish in some kind of robotic suit. 

Roxanne closed her eyes for a second, drawing in a deep breath in an attempt to clear her mind as she shook her head softly. She was just having a bad reaction to the drugs. That had to be it. But when she opened her eyes a few moments later, the fish was still there standing in the doorway. The fish gave her what she could only describe as a sharp-toothed grin, lifting one of its robotic arms before giving her a small wave. 

“What the fuck,” Roxanne breathed, and the fish’s smile faded as it’s fins retracted, making it look small and a little sad.

“Yes. He’s a fish.” Her fiance sighed, grabbing her upper arm and gently tugging her towards an adjacent wall. 

Roxanne was too shocked to pull away from him, letting him drag her over to the wall as she looked at him with wide eyes. “In a robot suit?” She questioned as he let go of her arm, pressing one of his hands against a panel on the wall. It glowed a soft blue color before a section of the wall folded out, revealing shelves full of bandages and bottles labeled in an alien language. “Why?” Roxanne questioned as he glanced over at her, shaking her head softly as she added, “How?” 

“Individual suits for the members of the Mypsin that have dedicated their lives to us was far more reasonable than building a several ton fish tank.” He answered as he turned back to the shelf before him, grabbing a small bottle from it before popping the cap open and squeezing a generous dollop of mint green gel onto his index finger. “Besides, this allows them to continue contributing to society until we truly settle.” He continued as he replaced the bottle, reaching out and grabbing her forearm before smearing the gel on her wrist. 

Roxanne stared in silence as she watched him quickly apply the gel to her damaged skin. The gel was surprisingly soothing; cool and numbing. “The how is quite simple. It’s just engineering.” He added as he released her arm, leaving her to stare at the way the light green gel contrasted her skin.

“What is this?” Roxanne questioned as he squirted another dollop of gel onto his finger before grabbing her other arm.

“Medicine.” He answered as he smeared the gel onto her other wrist, and the itchy burn that had been radiating up her arm faded almost immediately. “A mixture of antibiotics, pain relievers, and unassigned stem cells.”

“Stem cells?” She pressed, lifting an eyebrow as he grabbed a wipe from the shelf before cleaning off his hands and tossing it in a trash bin.

“We grow them in labs.” He offered simply as he grabbed a thin roll of gauze and gestured for her to hold out her arm. She acquiesced his silent request a second later, watching as he carefully wrapped her wrist in a few layers of gauze. 

The silence gave her a chance to finally take in more of his appearance than just his skin and eye color. His outfit was just as white as the rest of the room, a few teal accents marking his sides. Long sleeved and form-fitting with an exaggerated collar. A white cape clasped around his neck, hanging off to the side over one of his shoulders, held together by a bronze three-pronged clasp that glinted in the harsh artificial light. It certainly gave off a very sci-fi vibe.

He’d moved onto wrapping her other wrist before Roxanne finally decided to break the silence. Anything to keep her mind off of the almost delicate way that he tucked the ends of the gauze up under the bandaging. “So… what's your name?” She asked as he finished up the last bandage, watching as he glanced at her for a quick second before turning away and replacing the gauze. Tapping the side of the shelf twice before it retracted back into the wall. “You do have one. Right?” Roxanne pressed as the seconds lapsed on without an answer. 

“Of course I have a name. I have two, to be precise.” He answered as he started towards the only door leading in or out of the room, beckoning for her to follow him. 

She rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath at his silent request, but followed after him regardless. She was well aware of the fact that she was stranded here on this ship, even if she tried to sneak off there was no swimming to the New York coastline, especially in her condition. “And they are?” She pressed as she stepped through the threshold of the door and into a brightly lit corridor. 

“Strangers and acquaintances call me by my birth name. Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, first of his name.” He answered, his voice echoing in the narrow hallway as she stumbled over the syllables. Absolutely certain that she would butcher any attempt at his name. 

“That's a bit of a mouthful.” She muttered, rubbing a hand absentmindedly over the soft gauze covering her wrist. 

“Indeed.” He agreed as the corridor widened, a few branches splitting off from the main one that they continued down. “Which is why friends and family refer to me by my chosen name.” He explained, slowing down slightly so she could catch up to his side before he finished, “You may call me Megs, or Meg if you prefer one over the other.” 

“You had a chance to choose a name for yourself… and you picked Megs?” Roxanne questioned, lifting a single eyebrow as she stared back at him; waiting for one of his playful smirks to appear or for him to suddenly break down into laughter. 

“It's a play off of an old childhood nickname my parents gave me.” He answered with a shrug, and Roxanne couldn’t help it if her reporting skills urged her to push the subject.

“And you aren't going to tell me your childhood nickname?” 

A moment of silence lapsed on, and for a second she thought that he wasn’t going to answer. But just when she’d accepted that maybe the question had been too personal he answered, “In your language, it roughly translates to Megamind.”

“Megamind?” Roxanne parroted, a half-chuckle escaping her as she smirked at him. He had to be joking. This had to be a joke. He didn’t seem amused by her reaction though, giving her a very pointed look that had her quickly sobering up. “Seriously?” 

“What can I say? I was a bright child.” He replied, a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“It's a bit pompous. Don't you think?”

An unamused expression quickly grew on his face before he defended, “I invented a form of dehydrated stasis that worked on both inanimate objects and living creatures when I was three. The title, although pompous, is entirely warranted.”

Roxanne fell silent for the next few dozen paces, mulling over his words for a moment. He certainly seemed touchy about the whole nickname thing, and if anything that made her want to prod the subject even more. “What if I wanted to call you Megamind instead of Megs?” She questioned, a smile making her lips curve.

“Careful, Miss Ritchi.” He warned, his voice a low note that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. “I'm not immune to flattery.” She swallowed at the words, wondering why he made them sound so ominously threatening. There was definitely something going on with the nickname. 

Before she could wonder about it too much they stepped through another doorway into a domed room, the walls and roof made of glass, the view spilling out onto the endless crystal ocean. She wished that her hangover had subsided, that way she’d be able to appreciate it in all of its glory without having to suffer the pain from the bright sun spilling into the room and shining off of the water. 

She was so caught up with the view that she didn’t even notice the two-person table sitting near the wall of glass until Megamind stopped at it, pulling out one of the chairs with ease before gesturing for her to sit. Her eyes quickly roamed over the plates of food on the table before she slipped into the chair, her foggy mind reminding her that the reason she’d been untied in the first place was because a fish in a robot suit mentioned that breakfast was getting cold. She flinched slightly from the movement when he pushed her chair in for her, fully forgetting that he was there for a brief moment. 

He stepped around to the other side of the table silently, settling into his chair as she quickly looked at the array of plates sitting in front of her. A tall glass of what was probably orange juice, and a latte sat before her. The orange juice she’d be able to handle right now, the coffee… not so much. 

Two slices of bread sat on a smaller plate, and if she was going to assume that they were eating entirely normal human food she’d have to guess that the first one was covered in cream cheese and some kind of mixed berry compote. Probably too sweet for her nauseous stomach. The second one was covered in a layer of what looked like mushrooms with a thick slab of pink fish on top. Fish for breakfast? Probably not a good idea in her state. 

The larger plate held an egg over easy, and some kind of wilted green. Kale, maybe? That was probably pretty safe for a hangover meal. But really, what she was interested in was the glass of water sitting beside Megaminds plates. Why did he get water and she didn’t? 

“Are you not hungry?” He questioned curiously, pulling her back to the present as she glanced up at him, watching him take a bite of the mushroom and fish toast with teeth that definitely looked a little sharper than a normal humans. 

“Just trying to figure out whether or not you drugged the food too.” She retorted, reaching out and taking his glass of water from him before taking a long sip, relishing in the way it slipped down her parched throat. Megamind actually seemed a little surprised by the action watching her with wide eyes as he swallowed. 

“I've already kidnapped you, Miss Ritchi. I have no reason to drug you now.” He answered after a moment before taking another bite of his food. 

Roxanne gave him a skeptical look, but she knew he was right, and she knew that she couldn’t go on a hunger strike for fourteen days. If he wanted to drug the food then she was going to get drugged, it was as simple as that. What she did know, was that if she never ate then she’d never start to get over this damned hangover. And if she wanted to find a way off this ship, she’d have to get her strength back first. 

She placed the water glass down next to her orange juice before picking up a fork and stabbing the egg, watching the bright orange yolk leak out onto the white ceramic before cutting off a small piece and popping it into her mouth. She chewed in silence for a moment, thinking over her long list of questions before settling on a simple one.

“So, you said the courtship ritual is very scheduled. That means that each day is already planned?” 

She glanced up at him as she asked, watching as he nodded and swallowed before he answered, “Framed out. A skeleton without flesh.” 

“Thanks for that visual imagery during breakfast,” Roxanne muttered quietly, rolling her eyes as she cut off another piece of the egg. “So, what happens today?”

“I kidnap you.”

“And?” Roxanne pressed, lifting an eyebrow as she stared at him for a long moment.

“That's it,” Megamind answered with a shrug before taking another bite of his toast. 

“That's it?”

He paused at her question, lifting a single eyebrow before he asked, “Did you want something more?”

Roxanne did her best to hold in a bitter laugh at the question. Did she _want_ something more? She never wanted to be kidnapped, but here she was. “Isn't the whole point of a courtship to get to know the other person?” She pressed blandly, finally popping the bite of egg in her mouth as she waited for his answer. 

“It is.” He agreed, nodding once before he quickly added, “And on top of that, you, being human, will have to learn the basics of our culture as well.” 

“Do you know the basics of my culture?” Roxanne questioned, her voice a little defensive. 

“I've been on this planet for six months. I've had ample time to research your culture.” 

Roxanne fell silent at his response. Coming from the same person who had watched hundreds of hours of her reports and dug far enough back into her history to find old fanfictions, she had a feeling that he was telling the truth when he said that he’d already researched humans. 

“So what are we doing after breakfast?” She asked curiously, watching as a brief look of surprise glanced over his features before disappearing without a trace. 

“I was going to have Minyn show you to your room,” Megamind answered, offering her a soft shrug as he continued, “You're hungover, and still wearing last night's clothes. You can bathe, change, take a nap. Whatever you want, really.”

“So that's it?” Roxanne questioned, annoyance welling up inside of her as she purposely did a poor imitation of his voice; “Hey, I kidnapped you. We're gonna get married. Thanks for the chat see you tomorrow?”

Megamind sighed at the snarky question, setting his half-eaten piece of toast back down on his plate as he answered, “I was going to spend some time with you after lunch. Answer questions. Maybe share a few of our more culturally significant stories.” A sudden burst of curiosity sparked in her chest at his words. He was actually going to answer questions that she had? Oh God, where should she begin? There were so many things that the general populace still didn’t know. Everything about the aliens was so shrouded in mystery and bad tabloid reporting that nobody really knew for certain what was going on. 

“Trust me, I didn't bring you all the way out here to ignore you.” He chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back into his chair before reaching out and stealing her coffee.

Roxanne pursed her lips into a thin line as she watched him take a long sip of it, finally settling on a retort that would hopefully make his all too smug expression vanish. “If only you had. I wouldn't mind a two-week vacation.” 

“You’re right. I suppose if I wasn't here it would be like a vacation.” He murmured softly, glancing out the windows at their side as he stared out at the water for a long moment. Before the silence could turn awkward he was glancing back over at her with a wide smile, setting the coffee down on the table as he spoke up, “Lucky for you though, I am here. So we can just go ahead and call this a dream come true. Hmm?” 

“Kinda cocky, don't you think?” Roxanne asked, her voice dripping with insincere sweetness. Dear God, he was full of himself. But really, what had she expected. His people still followed a leader based on bloodline descent, he’d probably spent his whole life preening under the attention, knowing that one day he’d be the one in charge. 

“Cocky? Is that some sort of human colloquialism?” He questioned curiously, giving her such a purely curious look that it made him seem decades younger than he really was. 

“It is.” She answered, nodding once and watching as he gestured for her to explain. “It means conceited.”

“You wound me,” Megamind gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest as he gave her a fairly convincing look of mock hurt. “I didn't say it was your dream come true. Am I not allowed to have dreams?” He asked playfully, a wicked smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth as he leaned back in over the table slightly. 

“It was implied that it was my dream,” Roxanne retorted, unconsciously mirroring him as she braced her elbows on the table, leaning in slightly. 

His smile grew as he leaned in closer and bit back, “Well perhaps you misunderstood the implication.”

“Or perhaps the implication was obvious and you're trying to cover because I insulted your character.” She countered, her voice growing louder to match the volume as she suddenly realized how close they were. Their faces only a few inches apart as his smile softened, his eyes drifting across her face slowly. “What are you looking at me like that for?” Roxanne breathed as she quickly pushed herself back into the safety of her seat.

His eyes quickly snapped back to hers at the question, his soft and oddly disarming smile remaining firmly in place as he quietly answered, “Like I said earlier. Better than Goddess sent.” 

Roxanne could feel the heat searing her cheeks at the answer. There was no way he actually liked arguing with her, nobody liked arguing with her. Honestly, she’d been hoping to run him off. To make him realize that she was too stubborn and confrontational to be what he wanted. She’d run off plenty of ex-boyfriends by doing less. So why did he actually seem to enjoy it? Jesus Christ, this was the second time he’d referred to her as being sent by a God right after she got done dragging him through the metaphorical mud. 

Roxanne struggled to come up with a coherent response when his watch suddenly beeped a second before a long string of alien words rushed out of it so quickly that she could hardly tell where one word ended and the next began. His smile slowly faded as the voice stopped, the silence in the room suddenly glaring. 

A soft sigh escaped him as he grabbed his toast, taking another bite out of it as he stood up. “I have to attend to something. My apologies, Miss Ritchi,” Megamind offered as he gestured to the doorway they’d come in through. Roxanne quickly glanced behind herself, her eyes lingering on the fish in the robotic suit as she silently wondered how he seemed to keep disappearing and reappearing almost on a whim. “Minyn will escort you to your room when you're finished.” He added before turning away and walking out of the room without another word. 

She stared at the doorway in silence for a long moment. Still reeling from the unexpected compliment and the sudden departure. She had to be a lot more hungover than she realized if he was able to throw her off of her game to easily. She shook her head, letting out a long sigh as she turned back to the food sitting before her. 

She finished the egg almost mindlessly as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on here. Fish in robotic suits. She could handle that. Blue aliens in spaceships. She could handle that. But insulting someone just to have them turn around and praise her? Did these aliens have some kind of weird degradation kink? She was definitely going to have to re-think her tactics. 

She pondered over her options as she finished the orange juice and started in on what she thought was kale, though she doubted that kale could ever taste as good as whatever this was. She could try doing the opposite of what she’d been doing. She could pretend to be flattered and agree with everything he said. But God, that made her stomach twist in a way that was entirely unrelated to food sickness. No. She wasn’t going to force herself to be something she wasn’t. 

Which really only left one option. She kept doing what she had been ever since she woke up tied to that chair. Fourteen days really wasn’t a long time. She could deal with his infuriating glee for two weeks. _But can you go that long without starting to like him?_ That dark, little voice in the back of her questioned. She shook the thought away as she glared at her mostly untouched plate, tapping her fingers against the tabletop as she tried to pretend that the thought had never existed. 

She didn’t like him. She didn’t even know him! Sure, it wasn’t like the aliens were unattractive. And sure, she’d maybe had a thing for extraterrestrials when she was a kid. But those were just hormonal teenage fantasies. She was a grown woman. She was too old for fantasies. 

_It seemed like this might be a fantasy for you. Like I might be a fantasy for you._

“Are you ready, Ma'am?” A soft, almost worried voice broke the quiet, drawing her out of her trancelike state as she glanced over her shoulder. Watching as the fish - Minyn, Megamind called him - fidgeted in his suit almost uncomfortably. 

She nodded at the question. A room, privacy, sleep. She could definitely use some sleep. She’d feel better once she wasn’t running off of drug-induced slumber. 

The fish grinned at her silent answer, gesturing her towards the doorway as soon as she stood up. She stepped back into the corridor, acutely aware of the way he followed a half-step behind her.

“Minyn?” She asked, her voice wavering on the simple word. Was she allowed to call him that? Was it a name or a title?

“Yes, Ma'am?” He questioned immediately, his voice curious as it echoed down the hallway. 

“Was Megamind being honest earlier? Am I really free to go after fourteen days?” She asked curiously, wanting to have a confirmation from more than one person. For all she knew Megamind could have just been telling her what he knew she wanted to hear.

“Of course, Ma'am. Consent is a requirement for marriage, on behalf of both parties,” Minyn answered immediately, and Roxanne breathed out a long sigh of relief. Thank God. He had been telling her the truth. 

“Then why the kidnapping?” She pressed as Minyn gestured her down one of the branching offshoots of the hallway. 

“As Sir said, it's part of the courtship ritual.”

“But why?”

“Well… he wasn't wrong about the whole… wrath of your partner thing,” Minyn offered almost lamely, and she glanced over her shoulder at him to see an expression of something like contemplation on the fish’s face. He lit up a moment later, giving her a wide toothy grin as he added, “But it's also a way to build trust!”

“Trust?” Roxanne deadpanned, lifting a single eyebrow as she stared back at the fish. 

“Captives are at the mercy of their captors. Regardless of that though, you don't seem scared of him, or of the situation,” Minyn explained, only pausing for a second as he somehow managed to make himself look even more excited, “So clearly you trust him a little bit!”

Roxanne shook her head softly at the excited outburst, looking away from him as she took in the long line of plain white doors lining the sides of the hallway, each of the marked with a different alien symbol. “Or maybe I just have faith in the general goodness of humanity?”

Silence lapsed on for a moment at her words before Minyn’s almost confused voice broke the quiet, “He's not a human.” 

“Fine, faith in the general goodness of all sentient creatures,” Roxanne countered, glancing back over her shoulder at him as she watched a harsh frown etch itself into his face. 

“Not all sentient creatures are generally good, Ma'am,” Minyn replied, his voice dark. And Roxanne could tell that there was something more behind the simple statement. Some story that she suddenly wanted to hear. Before she could press him for more information he came to an abrupt stop, gesturing to a door at her right as he spoke, “Here we are, your room.”

“Thank you, Minyn.” She offered as she stared at the strange circular symbol on the door, doing her best to commit it to memory. 

“You're welcome, Ma'am.” He answered simply before immediately turning back the way they came, making it more than obvious that the conversation was over. Roxanne let out a soft sigh as she committed his words to memory. 

She’d definitely press the subject later. But in the meantime, she needed a hot shower and long nap, and thankfully, she was in just the right place to have both of those.


	3. Day One - Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the amazing comments! You guys are the best! I probably wouldn't have gotten this chapter out in time if it wasn't for your motivation!

Roxanne groaned into the ridiculously soft pillow when a soft rapping noise echoed through the room. She’d gotten entirely too little sleep. If anything she felt more tired then she had this morning. She groggily blinked in the bright mid-day sun streaming in through the wall of glass to her right. No sharp pain radiated through her skull at the brightness, and there was no longer that dull, constant ache in the back of her head that pulsed in time with her heartbeat. The hangover seemed to be gone, thank God. 

Another quick rapping knock rang through her room, a little louder this time, more insistent. She sighed as she tossed back the thick comforter she’d wrapped herself in. Making her way over to the door with long strides before pulling it open, her eyes settling on Megamind, one hand lifted in the air as though he was preparing to knock for a third time.

His eyes drifted up to her hair for a moment before a wide smile quickly lit up his face, his eyes sparkling with mischief. He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to say something about her hair before she managed to cut him off, “Don't.” She ordered, lifting a single finger in warning, watching as his eyes drifted back down to her face before she finished, “Mention my bedhead.”

“Bedhead. Is that what it's called?” Megamind asked, his smile growing as his eyes quickly flicked back up to her hair. “It looks… exciting.” He offered, chuckling as he stepped past her into her room, only sparing a quick glance around the place as he made his way towards the small two-person table nestled in the corner. 

Roxanne let out a long sigh at the sudden intrusion, part of her wanted to scold him for coming in without asking; but then again, this was the same person who kidnapped her. There obviously wasn’t a very strong sense of personal boundaries there. She should probably be grateful that he actually knocked. That she didn’t wake up to find him peering down at her, perched on the side of the mattress. She closed the door without a protest, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched him set a bag down on the table that she hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying. 

“What are you doing here?” Roxanne questioned, watching as he pulled two clear canisters of water out of the bag before rummaging around in it for a moment, his hand emerging a few seconds later with two faintly glowing blue cubes. 

“It's lunchtime.” He answered simply, setting one of the cubes on either side of the table before adding, “Unless you’re not hungry, of course.” He lifted an eyebrow in challenge as he spoke, like he was daring her to tell him to leave. Under normal circumstances, she might have actually given in to the temptation of telling him to go, but she was starving. The post-hangover munchies were attacking with a vengeance, not that she was going to let him know that.

“I could eat,” Roxanne shrugged, walking over to the table as he gave her a satisfied smirk before twisting the cap off of one of the water canisters. She watched as he carefully tipped the glass, a drop of water slipping past the rim and landing on the strange blue cube before it suddenly transformed. It happened so quickly that she had a hard time telling exactly how it happened, all she really knew was that one moment there was a little glowing blue cube, and the next there was a full place setting, food and all. She jumped when the bowl and the silverware clattered softly against the table, grabbing his forearm in a tight grip before she even realized what she was doing.

“What was that?” Roxanne demanded, glancing between the food on the table and Megamind. He didn’t answer for a long moment, an almost puzzled expression etched into his face as he stared blankly at her hand on his arm. She quickly noticed what she was doing, pulling her hand away as though he’d burned her as she impatiently awaited his answer.

“Dehydrated stasis,” Megamind answered a short moment after she pulled away. His eyes drifting up from his arm as a smirk began to pull at the corners of his lips, “Still think my nickname is pompous?”

She could see the gleam of triumph in his eyes as he stared back at her. Right, dehydrated stasis… the same dehydrated stasis he invented when he was three, if she recalled the conversation they’d had in the hallway a few hours ago correctly. Part of her wanted to play it off, make it seem small and insignificant; but this was some StarTrek shit that he’d invented, and yeah, she was a little impressed. “There’s a chance that it may have been warranted,” Roxanne admitted quietly, glancing back at the table as she stepped away from him slightly.

A pleased hum escaped him at her words, and she watched with rapt attention as he spilled another drop of water on the other blue cube a moment before it too turned into a full place setting, food included. That was... wow. 

Roxanne let out a disbelieving laugh as she sat down in one of the chairs, reaching out and carefully taking a fork in her hand as she turned it around gently, some small irrational part of her worried that it might crumble in her hands like some kind of illusion.

“Do you have any food allergies?” Megamind’s question pulled her attention away from the fork cradled in her hands, and it wasn’t until she caught sight of the all too smug smile on his face that she dropped the fork onto the table with a clatter. Jesus. She probably looked like she was crazy.

Roxanne did the best to ignore the blush she could feel spreading across her face as she simply answered, “No.”

“Good!” Megamind exclaimed as he took his seat across from her, picking up his fork like a normal fucking person, Roxanne noted dully. “I know seafood is a common one among your species.” He added as he stabbed the fork into his own bowl of salad-ish looking food. 

Roxanne didn’t bother trying to come up with a response, doing her best to save face as she picked up her fork and pulled her bowl of food closer before skewering a piece what she assumed was avocado. She took a long glance at the food. Trying, like she had been a few hours ago, to figure out what she was eating. There was definitely fish in it, which explained the question about seafood. Tomatoes, avocado, hard-boiled eggs, dressing, some kind of foreign looking grain, and possibly more kale.

Roxanne narrowed her eyes at the bowl as she popped the avocado in her mouth, chewing for a moment before she asked, “Is this the part where I get answers to my questions?”

Megamind lifted a single eyebrow at that, his voice breaking the quiet a few seconds later, “What questions do you have, Miss Ritchi?” 

“Why did you come to Earth?” She demanded, leveling him with her best reporter face. Sure, it wasn’t a particularly flashy question, but it was certainly one of the most important ones. One that she’d had rolling around in the back of her mind for six months now. 

“Really? Not, what's your favorite color, favorite season, favorite food?” Megamind questioned dully, his voice almost frustrated as he gave her an unamused glance. “Just why are you here?” Roxanne lifted a single eyebrow at his small rant. She wasn’t about to give in on this. She, of all people, had a right to know. 

“Nosy reporter.” He grumbled a moment later, and if it wasn’t for the almost affectionate undertone the words held she would have felt a little insulted. She watched as he toyed with his food for a moment, pushing it around with his fork as he drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. 

Roxanne was starting to get annoyed with the stalling when his soft voice finally broke the silence, “My native planet was destroyed by a black hole.” He swallowed thickly as soon as the words left his mouth, a harsh frown pulling the corners of his mouth down as he glared at the food in front of him. 

That certainly wasn’t what she’d been expecting. She’d already speculated that maybe they destroyed their planet on accident, made it uninhabitable. Or that maybe they’d just gotten too big for one planet, that they’d gone out in search of new territory. She’d never even thought about a natural disaster. 

“We started noticing the electromagnetic radiation and changes to the visible light spectrum early enough to develop an evacuation plan. We made ships, charted a course to the nearest aquatic planet, which just so happened to be Earth,” Megamind explained, his voice solemn as he finally managed to drag his eyes up to meet hers. “We even warned the adjacent Glaupunk quadrant. But they thought we were bluffing, trying to get them to flee so we could steal their land.” He continued, his voice uncharacteristically serious in a way that made goosebumps prick on her skin. He scoffed at the statement, shaking his head as he bitterly added, “As if we wanted _land_. As if everything they had wasn't _ours_ to begin with.” 

Another lapse of silence lingered before he softly finished, “We escaped a few _hours_ before the planet was sucked in. And now we're here.”

Roxanne nodded at the explanation, taking a moment to mull over everything he said and shove the pity she was feeling into the dark, untouched crevices of her mind. “So you're refugees.” She stated simply, staring at him for a long moment before asking, “Why did you wait so long to make contact with us?”

“You're joking, right?” Megamind deadpanned, staring at her like she’d grown a second head. “You humans were panicking! You thought it was the end of the world or something. The ships, and the planes, and all of the nosy scientists trying to poke at our spacecrafts.” He explained, and Roxanne had to admit that he had a point. Things had been particularly volatile in the beginning. “We collectively decided to wait until things cooled down a bit to attempt to converse.” 

She nodded at the explanation, it made sense. Two months had been plenty of time for the world to cool down enough for them to make that first contact in Britain. “Why did _your_ branch wait so long?” She pressed a moment later. Six months seemed like it was overkill, she was fairly certain that his branch had been the last to make contact. 

“I’m an only child,” Megamind answered simply, and Roxanne shook her head slightly at the statement. Really, what did that have to do with anything? “The _only_ heir, the _last_ link of the bloodline.” He pressed a moment later, leaning in over the table slightly as he gave her a look that told her she was _definitely_ missing the point here. “My parents and I needed to ensure that your species and mine were compatible in _certain ways_ before we went making any rash decisions.” He added pointedly, and suddenly everything he’d said made perfect sense. 

Roxanne tried to push the implications of his words to the back of her mind. She really did. But it was so much harder than it should have been. “Why the alliances? Especially by marriage?” She questioned a moment later, doing her best to distract herself from his previous statement. 

“Humans are a dangerous species. You kill each other with alarming ease.” He began immediately, and Roxanne opened her mouth to protest before deciding against it. He did kinda have a point after all. “We could win a war against you, that's not even a question. But how much damage would be done to the planet in said war?” He questioned simply. Roxanne swallowed at the query. They’d considered war? They’d actually went through the hassle of figuring out whether or not they could win? And they decided not to because they were worried about damaging the planet? “You have the land, and we want the water. There's no need to fight you over something that you're not even using.” He finished, offering her a shrug before popping another bite of food into his mouth. 

“Alliances were necessary for _several_ reasons,” Megamind continued as soon as he swallowed. “We needed you to know that we meant you no harm so long as you meant us none. We needed you to agree to let us inhabit your waters. And we needed you to accept and utilize our technology before you pushed this planet past its tipping point and destroyed its climate and ecosystem.”

“Why the marriages though?” Roxanne pressed, pushing the sudden revelation that her species may have narrowly avoided an alien apocalypse to the side for the moment. 

“There will come a time when tensions between our species run high. It's not a matter of _if_ , it's a matter of _when_ ,” Megamind began, tapping his fingers against the table as he seemed to mull over his next words for a moment. “When that time comes, those of us with human mates will be expected to remind our kind that we are capable of not only coexisting with humans, but thriving with them. The same will go for the humans that we’re mated to. You will remind your people that we aren't dangerous, that we're allies, that we can share this planet.” 

“And if it doesn't work, if your people still decide to fire the first shots; because believe me, _if_ there is a war, it _will_ be humans that fire the first shots. We’ll have…” Megamind trailed off, sucking in a long breath between clenched teeth as he seemed to debate finishing his sentence. “Well, you aren't going to like this, but we'll have hostages.” The words escaped him in a rush, something in his expression turning unusually cold and detached. “The children of the leaders of the human world in our hands.”

“Hostages!” Roxanne shouted, pushing herself back from the table as she watched him with wide eyes.

“Not in the way you're thinking!” Megamind quickly defended, lifting his hands in mock surrender. Roxanne swallowed at his words, staring at him suspiciously as he slowly lowered his hands back down to the table. “I would never mistreat you, and I’m certain that the leaders of the other branches wouldn’t harm their human counterparts.” He assured her, watching her expression carefully as he continued, “We aren't cruel, and you would never be held accountable for the actions of your nation.” He seemed to notice that she wasn’t entirely sold because he softly added, “We always strive to honor and protect our mates.” 

“I was just trying to explain…” Megamind trailed off again under the weight of her gaze, his eyes drifting down to the table as he clarified, “Your nation would be unlikely to shoot at a compound when they know that you are inside of said compound. Look at it like a safeguard. A subtle psychological nudge _not_ to launch the nukes.” Roxanne shook her head slightly at his words, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was collateral. And if he really thought that the President would refuse a war just because she was on-board he certainly had another thing coming. 

He seemed to take her silence as revulsion rather than simply pure shock, because after a few lingering seconds he quietly admitted, “I know. Politics aren't pretty, and they aren't romantic, but they are there for a reason.”

“Besides, _if_ we get lucky, if by some small chance there is never a conflict between our species during _our_ lifetimes, the world will need our children,” Megamind explained, his voice oddly subdued as he picked his fork back up and pushed his food around with it mindlessly. “Half human, half Amerdea. They'll understand both cultures. Both people. They'll be partial towards both sides, just towards both species. They'll serve as a reminder that not only can we coexist with each other, but that we can thrive with each other. A living symbol of unity.” 

Roxanne swallowed at his words. She got the gist of it earlier when he explained why his branch waited so long to make contact, but it was different hearing it straight from his mouth rather than connecting the dots on her own. “So we are… biologically compatible?” Roxanne pressed, watching as he nodded before his eyes flicked back up to meet hers. 

“Our DNA and RNA sequences are _very_ similar. My species has a few more chromosomes than yours does, but with minimal scientific intervention, we can procreate. It’s a simple matter of just cloning the gaps in chromosomal sequences with my own genetics. We would never have a child on accident, a viable embryo would have to be developed in-lab and then implanted using in vitro fertilization.” He explained, a long moment of silence dragging on as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea of a kid. _Her_ kid. She’d never been against the idea, but she’d never exactly imagined herself in a situation where she’d have one. “Were you not expecting children?” He pressed, his voice curious.

“I guess I just never really thought that far ahead,” Roxanne answered slowly, offering a lame shrug as she popped another bite of food into her mouth.

Megamind nodded at her answer, drawing in a long, almost labored breath before he began, “When my mother retires, I'll become the leader of this branch. And I have a… duty. To make sure that when I retire, I have a son or daughter to carry on after me.” Roxanne couldn’t help but notice the way he spoke. He didn’t sound particularly enthralled. “I don't need a flock of children. One will suffice.” He explained, his tone settling into something surer.

“You don't really sound like you want children,” Roxanne ventured. At least if she really didn’t want kids she could say no to his proposal. But if he didn’t want kids there was really no way for him to escape it, was there? 

“I'm still a bit young to be considering such things,” Megamind offered, his voice soft, contemplative. 

Young? Roxanne’s mind stuttered over his words. Just this morning he’d told her that she was closer to his age than any of the other _contestants_. He’d made it sound like he was older than her. “How old are you?” She questioned curiously, giving him a quick but futile once over. It wasn’t like he had any wrinkles or fine-lines to give away his age.

“In your years or in mine?” Megamind asked simply, tilting his head slightly as he stared back at her. 

“Both?” Roxanne hedged, silently wondering if it made that big of a difference as she took a much-needed sip of water.

“In your years I'm fifty-four.” He answered immediately, and Roxanne suddenly found herself choking on her drink. 

She barely even managed to swallow, coughing violently into the nook of her elbow as she gave him an incredulous look, “What?” 

Megamind smiled at her reaction, his eyes lighting up as his body shook with barely repressed laughter. “In my years I'm almost twenty-seven.” He continued, his voice laced with humor. “I've lived almost one-fifth of my life.”

“One-fifth?” Roxanne breathed, silently doing the mental math in accordance with human lifespans. If a person got lucky and made it to one hundred, then their one-fifth mark would be twenty years old. But with most people only making it to roughly into their eighties, they would only be sixteen at their one-fifth mark. 

Her mind spun slightly at the realization. He was still practically a kid! Oh God, this was so very wrong on so many levels. “Are you even an adult?” The words escaped her in a rush, and he chuckled at the question, his smile quickly turning into a full-blown grin. 

“Our official age of adulthood is fourteen, in your years that's twenty-eight,” Megamind explained, carefully watching for her reaction as he added, “I’ve been an adult for thirteen years, or twenty-six years, depending on whose timelines you’d like to use.” Roxanne swallowed at his words. That put them on a pretty level playing field. Acutally, if anything, he was the older adult here. “Don’t worry, you aren’t… how do you humans put it?” He trailed off, tapping a finger against the thin black strip of his goatee for a moment, “Ah, yes. You aren’t _robbing the cradle_.”

Roxanne snorted at the term, shaking her head softly as she realized that given the differences between his years and hers, if anyone was robbing a cradle, it was him. “We usually live within the range of one hundred and fifty and two hundred. In our years. In yours that's more like three hundred and four hundred,” Megamind added, and Roxanne stared at him in shocked silence for a long moment.

His lifespan was three to four times longer than hers. And that was beside the point that she’d already trudged through about a third of her already considerably shorter life. “So I'm going to die before you’ve lived even half of your life…”

“Oh, no. Once we -” Megamind’s earnest voice paused for a moment before he restarted, “ _If_ we get married, there's a way to slow down the deterioration of your cells. We can lengthen your lifespan to match my own.”

Roxanne shook her head at the statement. They had that technology? She knew that they had the cure for basically every human illness. But he’d basically just told her that they’d unlocked the key to immortality, or that at the very least they were damn close to doing so. “But then everyone I know would die.” She murmured softly, her heart giving a painful twist at the thought. She would outlive literally every person she’d ever met.

“Humans. Yes,” Megamind replied, his voice growing gentler as he continued, “But I wouldn't, and neither would our child. Or children, depending on whichever you prefer.”

Roxanne did her best to try and distract herself from the sudden revelation that had just been sprung on her, doting on his last statement in an attempt to change the subject. She’d like to talk about anything that didn’t involve her outliving literally every person she’d ever loved. “Whichever I prefer?”

“Of course. The female always decides how many children there will be. It would be rude of the male to assume he has any say in it, especially when his contribution is so minimal. Comparatively.” He explained simply, and God, Roxanne definitely wished that more human men understood that fucking concept. “And, back to the previous topic,” Megamind digressed, “The gene therapy to lengthen life spans is voluntary even if it is heavily recommended. No one would ever be forced into it, though.” 

Roxanne let out a long breath at the words. Voluntary was good. It was definitely a step in the right direction, even if his deeper explanation only managed to raise more questions. “Why is it recommended?”

“Losing a mate is a traumatic experience. Especially when one still has a lot of life left to live.” He answered, his voice growing noticeably darker as he spoke. 

“Yeah, but you could move on. Find someone else for the rest of your life,” Roxanne muttered, offering a stiff shrug at the thought. God, she hated it. The stark reminder that she was replaceable. That in the end, this was all just a game of politics, and she was just another pawn to be used in an attempt to win.

Megamind fell silent at her statement, his mouth pressing into a harsh line and his brow knitting as he stared at her in silence for an almost unnerving length of time. She was just about to say something to break the thick silence when he drew in a deep breath before beginning, “Miss Ritchi, my species mates for life. Like wolves, or barn owls.” His eyes drifted down to the table as he swallowed thickly, his next words quiet even in the surrounding silence. “We don't _move on_ when our mate dies.”

“Oh…” Roxanne deadpanned, completely caught off guard by the sudden admission. “I didn't realize…” She trailed off, shaking her head as she mulled over the sudden revelation. “Is that by choice or is it biological?”

“Biological.” He answered immediately. “We believe it's to prevent the likelihood of inbreeding. You know how that one Mongolian conqueror has sixteen million descendants. It's to prevent that.” Roxanne nodded mutely at his words, relief and concern warring inside of her. Sure, it was really nice to think that for maybe once in her life someone wouldn’t be chomping at the bit to forget about her and move on to something better. But at the same time, if she really didn’t want the treatment and they got married he’d spend half of his life as a widow, and that hardly seemed fair to him.

Roxanne swallowed at the sudden mountain of feelings she’d have to sort through. It wasn’t like she had to make a decision today. She had thirteen more days to figure out where she stood on everything. Besides, it might not even be something that she had to think too hard about in the end. What were the chances that she’d actually _want_ to marry him? She pushed all thoughts of marriage, and life spans, and children away as she decided to return to her mental list of reporter questions. “Is your species aquatic?”

He seemed surprised by the sudden change of topic, quickly swallowing the bite of food he’d popped into his mouth before he answered, “Yes. We started out as solely aquatic, over time we evolved to be only partially aquatic.” Roxanne nodded at his answer, a perfect explanation as to why they only seemed interested in making allies out of countries with access to massive bodies of water. “Water is very valuable to us. We could live on land, but it wouldn’t be _home_.”

“Do you have gills?” She smiled as she spoke, she’d meant the question entirely as a joke. The mood felt a little heavy after all of their talk about kids and lifelong partners, and she really just wanted to lighten up the atmosphere. 

“We have a secondary respiration system that filters air from water should we need it… but I wouldn’t call it gills. I’m not a fish,” Megamind answered almost warily, like he thought she was going to make fun of him or something. “Besides it couldn’t sustain us for more than a few hours before we needed to revert back to our primary respiration system.” 

Roxanne had to admit, she was more than just a little shocked at his answer. She’d really been expecting him to laugh off the question and then turn it into a joke. Well, since he clearly wasn’t going to she was. “You’re like a mermaid.” She teased playfully, watching with glee as his expression twisted with indignation. 

“I am not!” He defended zealously. “I don’t have a tail. I don’t share any genes with fish. I don’t even have webbing to make swimming easier.” He lifted a hand as he spoke, splaying his fingers before pointing at the way they connected to the rest of his hand, just like a humans.

“But you’re still a good swimmer?” Roxanne questioned curiously, watching as he lowered his hand back down to the table and leaned in over it slightly.

“I’m an incredible swimmer,” Megamind answered. It wasn’t until Roxanne broke into laughter that his all too sure of himself expression faltered. 

“Mermaid.” She accused, pointing a finger at him as she stabbed another forkful of salad. 

He finally laughed at that, shaking his head as that strange human on the surface, rumbling alien undertone, sound filled the air. Was it wrong that part of her wanted to hear more of that all too alien rumble? Before she could wander too far down the path of _what other alien noises does he make_ , his voice was breaking the quiet; “If you’re going to call me a mermaid could you at least have the decency to use my proper pronouns?” She watched as he lifted a hand to his chest as he playfully finished, “I’m a mer _man_.” 

Roxanne laughed at the quip, and another rumbling alien laugh followed directly afterward. Okay, so maybe he was actually a little fun when she wasn’t pissed off, and hungover, and too exhausted and frustrated to make or take jokes. So what? It wasn’t like she was scared of catching feelings just because he had a sense of humor. 

A moment of silence lapsed on as soon as their laughter died down, and as she chewed on a bite of salad - that in retrospect definitely tasted a lot better than she’d initially thought it would - she did a mental revision of the plethora of other questions she still wanted to ask. What exactly did it mean to be a prince? What would that mean for her _if_ they did get married? Was he actually okay with an arranged marriage? Even if he did have a little more say in it that she’d had initially. 

But inevitably, she pushed those questions, and many more to the backburner. She’d already played reporter for a good twenty minutes. The mood was finally light and carefree. She should ask him something more personal; like what he complained about initially when this had started. “What's your favorite color?” She asked, watching as his wide, surprised eyes quickly darted up to meet her own. 

“Miss Ritchi! I never thought you'd ask!” He exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across his face. And God, he looked entirely too excited to be asked something so simple. “Black.”

“Black?” She reiterated, daring a quick glance around her white room before her eyes settled on his white outfit. “But everything's so white.”

“Cultural preference. Not personal preference.” He explained simply, waving the question away with a hand before he asked, “And yours is?”

“Green.” She answered without thinking, saying the very first thing that came to mind. 

“Why green?” He questioned thoughtfully, staring at her in a way that implied that he was reading into her answer way more than he ought to be. 

Roxanne swallowed at the question, a brief flare of panic rising up in her chest because her favorite color wasn’t green it was red. Why did she say green? _It’s because you have a pitiful crush on him because you know he’s hot even if you refuse to admit it, and he’s the first guy who isn’t a complete scum-bag or weirdo to show you attention in years_ ; that dark voice in the back of her mind scolded her; _you said green because you already fucking love his ridiculously colored eyes_. 

She swallowed at the entirely unwanted revelation, as she managed to come up with a lame response, “It's… soothing.” _Seriously Roxanne, soothing? Jesus, why don’t you just get it over with already and marry him?_ “Why black?” She questioned a moment later, trying to deflect the conversation back towards him as she took a much-needed sip of water.

“You wouldn't be able to see the stars if not for the inky expanse of the night sky,” Megamind answered with a smile, and Jesus, why did he have to be like this? That was practically waxing poetic. Oh God, she really was screwed, wasn’t she?

She swallowed at the thought, some defensive thing hidden in the back of her mind quickly coming out to play. “Spaceman is a fan of the stars. Who would've guessed?” She questioned, her voice just a notch away from scathing. His expression momentarily faltered at the sudden and entirely unexpected shift in her tone, and she had to admit that part of her felt bad. But this was always what she did when someone started getting close. She pushed them away. By whatever means necessary. 

His eyes narrowed as his smile fell away completely a moment before he bitterly returned, “And the Earth ape is fond of the color of the jungle. What a coincidence.” 

Roxanne gaped at him the moment the words left his mouth, watching as he winced and quickly glanced away as silence began to envelop them. He must of realized that his comeback was a bit more wounding than hers. At least she hadn’t called him a fucking animal. Is that what he saw humans as? Animals? It wouldn’t be too surprising if he did, would it?

He looked back over at her with an apologetic expression a moment later, his mouth opening as he clearly started to say something just before the harsh crackle of static filled the air. His mouth drifted shut as he glanced down at the watch on his wrist a half-second before rapid, alien words came tumbling out of it. Almost as quickly as they began, they stopped, leaving both of them sitting in tense silence.

Megamind stared at his watch for a few lingering seconds before his apologetic gaze drifted back up to meet hers. He opened his mouth a second time, but she quickly cut him off before he could start. “You seem busy?” She hedged, desperately hoping that he took the hint. She didn’t really want an apology. It would be easier to remind herself of all the reasons why this arranged marriage was a _very_ bad idea if he didn’t apologize. 

Thankfully, he simply nodded as his mouth drifted shut. “I’m in the process of arranging transport to the mothership.” He explained softly, his voice subdued and repentant even if he wasn’t saying he was sorry. “In case you haven't noticed, it's just the two of us on this one.” 

“Why are we going to the mothership?” She questioned a moment later, a note of anxiety slipping to her voice at the thought of being taken to an _alien mothership_.

“On day three of the courtship, you spend the day with my parents.” He explained, and Roxanne’s anxiety quickly morphed into a new kind of terror. 

“What?” She squeaked out, paling at the thought of standing in front of an alien king and an alien queen alone. Or even with Megamind at her side. Both options were equally terrifying. 

“I spend the day with your parents too.” He offered a moment later, shrugging at the thought. Of course it was no big deal for him. Her dad was just a Governor. “My parents don't bite, there's nothing to worry about.” He added, clearly noticing the trepidation that the situation stirred up. 

Roxanne nodded mutely at his words, even though they really did nothing to soothe her. She wasn’t really worried about his parents _biting_ her. She was more worried that she’d say something wrong and be sentenced to death or something. 

A few more seconds of awkward silence ticked by before Megamind let out a long sigh and stood up. “I'll have Minyn come clean up.” He offered, taking his bowl in hand as he pushed his chair back in. Making it apparent that lunch was over. “Oh and, Miss Ritchi.” He began, digging his free hand into a pocket on the inside of his cape before pulling out a cell phone and setting it down on the table in front of her. “Call your parents, tell them your safe.” 

She swallowed at his words as she reached out and took the thin metal and glass phone in her hands. Running her fingers over it for a moment before she spoke up. “Am I?” She questioned, her eyes flicking up to land on his confused expression as she added, “Safe?” 

“I just told you, the only people on this ship are you, me, and Minyn. Why wouldn't you be safe?” He questioned, seeming genuinely confused for a moment before she gave him a pointed look. His expression hardened as soon as the meaning of her words settled in. He braced his free hand on the table top as he leaned in over the table, hovering over her as his dark, quiet voice broke the silence, “What would I have to gain from harming you, Miss Ritchi?”

She shook her head slightly at the question before breathing, “World domination?”

“A war, you mean,” Megamind corrected, lifting a single eyebrow as he stared down at her. She swallowed at the words, at the intensity of his gaze at the moment. ”Your safety is incontestable, for several reasons, the _least of which_ is the threat of war that would result from harming you.” He growled, his voice somehow darkening further. 

Roxanne swallowed at the words, trying to ignore the low swoop of heat that blossomed at his tone. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she even had a chance to speak he whirled around, his cape snapping out behind him as he stalked towards the door with fiery determination. She watched him step outside as she tried to ignore the disappointment welling up in her as she realized that she was well on her way to accomplishing her goal.

She was pushing him away. 

Her specialty.

**< ^^><^^><^^><^^><^^><^^>**

“Mom, for the hundredth time. I’m fine. Really.” Roxanne sighed into the phone, flopping back into the bed as her mother’s worried voice droned along on the other end. She’d heard the same phrases repeated over and over again during the last five hours.

_Why didn’t you call me sooner?_

_You know you really shouldn’t drink so much, what if something had happened to you?_

_You couldn’t wait a few days before running off with him?_

Of course, those questions were far preferable to the other ones she’d heard out of her mother's mouth. 

_What’s he like?_

_How many of them have you met?_

_Have you kissed yet?_

_Do his parents seem nice?_

_Do I get to help plan the wedding?_

Jesus, she was beginning to regret the little white lies she’d told. Like saying that he found her right after the raffle and asked her if she wanted to get away early. She had a feeling that her mother would march into the White House and demand the nuclear launch codes if she knew that he’d kidnapped her initially. 

The small break she’d had when her father got on the phone had been a nice reprieve. At least he seemed more concerned about her wellbeing than scolding. 

_You don’t actually want this, do you?_

_Is everything okay out there? You’re not exactly the type to go running off like that._

_Well, at least that’s relieving. I’d hate for you to be forced into marriage. I’m glad they give you a chance to say no if you want._

Her conversation with her father had been entirely too short, and the talk with her mother had gone on four hours longer than she wanted it to. She was surprisingly grateful when a knock sounded at her door. It was an excuse to finally say goodbye.

Roxanne padded over to the door as she cut her mom off in the middle of her rambling list of family members that she should invite. “Mom. I have to get going, someone's at the door and I'm pretty sure it's dinner time here.” 

“You're going so soon?” Her mom demanded, and Roxanne rolled her eyes as she pulled the door open to reveal Minyn. “You'll call me tomorrow right?”

“I don't know if I'll have cell signal tomorrow.” She answered, lifting a single finger at the robotic-suit clad fish as her mother let out a hefty sigh. 

“Alright, but call me when you can. I love you.” 

“I love you too, Mom,” Roxanne replied. “Have a good night.”

She hung up before any response came, letting out a well-earned groan before throwing the phone at the mattress, watching it bounce onto the covers. 

“You’ve been on the phone for a while, Ma’am.” Minyn greeted her, fins fluttering. She let out another pained groan at his statement. She’d been on the phone when he’d come to clean up about an hour after Megamind stormed off. And she knew for a fact that if he hadn’t have come to her rescue, she would have been on the phone for several more hours.

“I know,” Roxanne sighed, her shoulders slumping at the thought of what would happen the next time she called her mom. She knew that the phone calls would only get worse from here on out. 

“Would you like to come to dinner?” Minyn asked expectantly, before quickly adding, “I could bring it to you if you’d prefer some time alone.”

“Megamind would let you do that?” She questioned, a hint of surprise tainting her voice. 

He gave her what she could best describe as a glower before answering, “Sir is the one who suggested I make the offer. He thought that you might be tired after the day you’ve had.” Roxanne paused at the statement for a moment. Dinner alone sounded great, but she had a feeling that meal times were somewhat important here. The only time’s she’d even seen Megamind today were the times when they were sharing a meal. 

She had a feeling that this wasn’t him being charitable. He probably realized what a dick he’d been earlier and he was either giving her a chance to avoid him, or hoping that she’d take the offer and have more time to cool down before she saw him again. She pursed her lips in determination at the thought. No. She wasn’t going to play into his hand like that. “I’m not particularly tired.” She offered with a smile as she stepped out of her room, pulling the door shut behind her.

Minyn gave her a toothy grin, his fins fluttering with excitement as he started down the hallway. This time, Roxanne didn’t bother him with any questions, even though part of her was desperate to know what he meant earlier when he made that dark comment about not everyone being ‘generally good’. 

It turned out that she didn’t have to be the one to break the quiet, because as they walked silently down the winding hallways he came to a sudden stop before turning around to face her. “I know he can be a bit much to handle sometimes,” Minyn began, and it took Roxanne a hot minute to realize that he had to be talking about Megamind. “His heart is in the right place he just…”

She watched as he glowered at the floor. Silently wondering what Megamind must have said to him to make him feel like he needed to justify his friends previous behavior. “He just, what?” She pressed, lifting a single eyebrow as she quickly regained Minyn’s attention. 

“He…” Minyn fluttered around almost nervously in his tank before quickly explaining, “He’s been a bit isolated from society these last few years, and people are just so wary of Aevus’s ever since -” He came to an abrupt stop, his mouth hanging open for a second before he shut it with a quick snap. “Nevermind. It’s not my place.” He muttered, turning away abruptly before quickly hurrying down the hallway. 

Roxanne stood there in shocked silence for a few seconds. She felt like he was about to give some pretty serious information up. Why would the prince of a sect of aliens be isolated from society? What the fuck was an Aevus? Why did he suddenly seem so cagey about telling her anything in the first place? “Minyn,” Roxanne called out as she quickly rushed forward, closing the distance between them just before they stepped out into the domed glass room that she’d had breakfast in this morning. 

“Enjoy your meal, Ma’am,” Minyn stated as he lifted a robotic hand out towards the center of the room, his voice just barely strained as he gave her a look that screamed; _this conversation is over_. _Leave it_.

She swallowed at the sudden shift in the atmosphere, watching as he stiffy turned away and hurried off down an adjacent hallway. Roxanne let out a long breath as she watched him go, glancing over at the center of the room a moment later. 

The sun was just starting to dip down below the horizon, painting the water orange and red. Megamind was sitting in one of the chairs, watching her with an almost surprised expression as he set down a glass of what she could only assume was red wine.

He stood up without saying a word, making his way over to the empty chair and pulling it out before gesturing towards it simply. She swallowed at the silent request before starting forward, settling into the chair before offering a simple, “Thank you.”

“You're welcome, Miss Ritchi.” He offered quietly as he stepped away, sitting back down in his own chair as she quickly looked over the plates sitting before her. There was fish again, what a surprise, and some kind of flatbread covered in tomatoes, olives, and artichoke hearts. A glass of red wine sat proudly beside the plate. 

It wasn’t until Megamind cleared his throat quite pointedly, clearly preparing to say something important, that she quickly spoke up, “Is there some massive inequality gap between royals and normal citizens?”

He seemed a bit shocked with the question at first, shaking his head as he answered, “No. Why?”

“This place is pretty fancy, and every meal is amazing,” Roxanne explained, giving him a skeptical look as she added, “In my experience, sometimes the little guys suffer so the people on top can live like this.” 

“America is capitalist,” Megamind stated simply, lifting his fork before cutting a piece of fish away with it. “My culture is vastly different. Everything is free.” He explained before popping the food in his mouth, leaving her to gape in stunned silence at the sudden revelation. A few lingering seconds passed in silence before he swallowed and added, “Also, you can thank Minyn for the food. He enjoys cooking.”

Roxanne shook her head slightly before clarifying, “Everything is free? As in, you don’t have _any_ form of currency?” Megamind nodded once at her questions, and she leaned in over the table slightly as she pressed, “How does that work?”

“Everyone contributes. No job is less important than another, they're all necessary for society to work as it does. We begin school at two, stay in for at least twelve years, up to twenty-two years. Everyone's expected to have a job by twenty-five. We get to retire at one hundred if we want to.” He explained, taking a long sip of his wine before fluidly continuing; “Job changes are allowed and encouraged when an individual feels trapped or stagnant, and relocation to another branch of the division is allowed, should the correct paperwork be filed and approved.” He paused for a long moment after he finished, seeming to think something over before stating, “I suppose it works for us because… well, why take more than what you need?”

Roxanne mulled over his explanation for a moment. Their entire society ran off of the concept of only taking what you needed. Would that ever work with humans? She practically snorted at the thought as soon as it crossed her mind. She already knew the answer, it was a hard no. “Do you contribute? Even though you aren't the king yet?” She questioned curiously as she finally cut into her fish. He was older than twenty-five, so according to him, he should have a job.

“Yes. I contribute to society,” Megamind chuckled, seeming entirely too amused by her question.

“Doing?” Roxanne pressed as she finally took a bite of the food sitting before her.

“That's for tomorrow, Miss Ritchi,” Megamind avoided the question with ease, a playful smile on his face a moment before he sobered up a bit. “Also… I know we've been referring to everyone and King and Queen, Prince and Princess. Those titles aren't necessarily incorrect but, humans don't have a word that more accurately represents the position.” He explained simply. “Yes, leadership is handed down from parent to offspring but we don't rule, per se. We… ensure the government runs smoothly, we keep communications open with the other branches and divisions, we handle outside threats, we sometimes make executive decisions for the good of our people. We aren't above everyone. We spend our lives making sure that theirs go smoothly.” 

Roxanne nodded silently at the unexpected information before murmuring, “You handle the stress and they get to just live.”

“Precisely,” Megamind smiled, popping another bite of fish into his mouth as she finally decided to try the wine. 

She savored the taste for a minute, silently admitting that he’d managed to get his hands on some pretty good stuff as she quickly set the glass back down. “And you can't tell me what you do until tomorrow?” She pressed once more, hoping to get something out of him. 

“Tomorrow is my chance to impress and astound you with my various and incredible accomplishments.” He stated proudly, an egotistical grin spreading across his face. 

“I'm not easy to impress,” Roxanne retorted, lifting an eyebrow in challenge as she stared him down.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Megamind replied playfully, giving her a very pointed, lingering once-over before adding, “I do enjoy a challenge.”

Roxanne snorted at his quip, rolling her eyes as she decided to try the flatbread. Oddly enough, Megamind actually let the silence linger for once. It wasn’t until she’d polished off the last few bites of her bread that his voice broke the quiet, “Do you like stories?”

“What kind of stories?” Roxanne questioned skeptically. Some small part of her wondering when kind of trap this was. 

“The kind that hold cultural significance.” He answered a half-second later, and suddenly everything clicked into place. He had mentioned sharing some of his culture with her later on in the day. 

“Offering up your lore?” Roxanne clarified, watching as he nodded once at the question. “I would love to hear a story.” Megamind fell silent for a moment after her answer, taking a long sip of his wine before beginning. 

“Long ago, back when my planet was young, there was a young man who went by the name Medea. Medea was a creature of the sea, bound to the watery depths. And like all creatures, he loved that which he could not have. He longed for the sky, for the freedom of the air, the ability to explore the vast swaths of land he couldn’t venture on. He spent years of his life pining after the sky, and as those years passed he came to learn about the Goddess of the skies. Ameria.”

“The years continued to pass, but ever since he’d learned of Ameria’s existence, ever since he’d managed a glimpse of her, he couldn’t erase her from his mind. She was but another thing that he couldn’t have. And oh, how he wanted things that he couldn’t have. Medea was a cunning creature though, and he was tired of wanting, so he devised a trap for the Goddess. He wove a net of reeds, and grabbed his best spear, and swam to the shallow waters lining the beaches.”

“Ameria, being a Goddess of the sky, had a particular fondness for the creatures of the sky. She was kind to them, caring. She treated them as though they were her children. Medea knew this, so when a seabird landed on the shore he speared it, hoping that its cries would lure the Goddess in. His plan worked. She took notice of the wounded creature and stopped to save it. As soon as she healed the bird, he sprung up from the water, and ensnared her in the net.”

“She's a Goddess. Couldn't she free herself?” Roxanne questioned, pointing out one of the several obvious plot holes in the story.

“Before she had a chance to free herself, Medea grabbed her and drug her into the sea. She was a creature of the sky, powerless when submerged under the water. And so, Ameria too became a prisoner of the sea.” 

“He loved her so he kidnapped her?” Roxanne questioned, shaking her head at the thought. As if that would ever work. It wasn’t until Megamind gave her a pointed look that it clicked. _He kidnapped her._ “Oh…” She deadpanned, falling silent at the realization.

“Medea took her back to his home, the whole time he ignored her pleas that he free her. He knew that she didn’t love him yet, but he was certain that she would learn to love him in time. He made it a point to show her everything that he'd done with his life. He spilled each and every one of his life's accomplishments in an attempt to impress her, to show her that he was worthy. An equal in a different sense.” 

“This is where your courting ritual came from,” Roxanne murmured. It all made so much more sense now. The kidnapping was tradition just like he’d told her. Tomorrow was his chance to impress her with his work. Everything that had happened, and everything that was going to happen would follow the plot of the tale.

“It is. It's also a very fanciful origin story for my people,” Megamind answered before quickly delving back into the story. “Ameria continued to plead for mercy. She offered Medea riches, power, immortality. But he wasn’t interested in those things. No. The only thing he wanted was the one thing she refused to give. Her heart.”

“Several days passed in a similar manner, with Ameria begging for freedom and offering everything that she could think of to buy her liberty. And yet Medea still refused. She was beginning to think that things were hopeless, until her parents took notice of her absence and came looking for her. Medea saw them coming, and he hid her away from them. Tied her up so she couldn’t escape. Gagged her so she couldn’t call for help.”

“When her parents knocked on his door he answered. He assured them that he hadn't seen their daughter, and that he would send them a prayer immediately if he did. The old Gods were grateful for his cooperation, and as such, they offered him a blessing of his choice. He requested that they give him their blessing that he may marry the woman who owned his heart. They assumed that this meant that he was engaged, and they readily gave him their blessings.” 

“Upon receiving the Gods consent, he revealed Ameria to them. They were furious, but they had already given their blessing. They had been tricked into giving their daughter away, and they never even realized it. They too were creatures of the sky, powerless underwater even if they still had to hold true to their blessings at all times. Enraged, they swore their vengeance upon Medea, and departed with a plan of their own.”

“Emboldened with his victory, Medea paraded Ameria around the depths of the sea, proclaiming his love for the Goddess. Declaring to everyone and anyone that would listen that he would marry her if it was the last thing he did. He had her parents blessings already. Now all he had to do was win her heart. Ameria, on the other hand, was feeling trapped, hopeless, stranded miles away from the freedom of the sky and the ability to use her true strength. However, much to her luck, after a few more days passed an assassin sent by her parents came for Medea.”

“The assassin came in the night and went to slay Medea in his bed. However, his blade did not find Medea’s body. His blade found Ameria’s body. You see, Medea had given her his bed from the day that she’d arrived, aspiring to be a gentleman even if the circumstances surrounding them were not exactly opportune. Medea woke to the sound of Ameria’s screams, and rushed into the bedroom to find the assassin standing over her, a look of horror spread across his face. Enraged, he grabbed one of his fishing spears, and slaid the man where he stood.”

“The assassin fell to the ground, bleeding out. And Medea clutched Ameria to his chest and promised that she was not going to die. Not this way. He wouldn’t allow it.” 

“Couldn't a Goddess heal herself?” Roxanne questioned curiously, lifting an eyebrow at yet another plot hole.

“Not while under the water. Like I said earlier, she was powerless under the sea,” Megamind reminded her, taking a sip of his wine as soon as his voice faded.

“So she died.” She deadpanned, shaking her head at the ending. What was everyone’s obsession with tragic love stories? And what did this even mean in accordance with the whole courtship ritual?

“No,” Megamind quickly corrected her, before explaining, “Medea took the knife wedged in her chest. He cut out one of his hearts, and gave it to her.”

“Do you have two hearts?” Roxanne demanded, her eyes settling on his chest as she wondered if it was just a deus ex machina for the sake of the story.

“Do you need one?” He questioned, lifting a single eyebrow as he stared back at her. She gawked at the question, but he didn’t give her a chance to linger on it for very long before continuing the tale. “It took Ameria a few weeks to heal, but when she did, she was quite taken by the gift Medea had given her. A second chance for life. She was so taken by his sacrifice that she finally decided to give him a chance. She asked him to take her somewhere.”

“Like a date?” She questioned, watching as he nodded an affirmative.

“Exactly. Like a date.” He added with a smile. “Medea choose to take her to the coral reef, he showed her the most beautiful part of living under the sea. The only thing that he truly loved about living below the water. Ameria was surprised to find that she actually enjoyed it. She loved the colorful fish, the strange sea creatures, the abundant life that the water gave birth to. While they were there they smiled, and laughed, and talked; it was a look behind the curtain at the man Medea truly was.”

“After Medea took her to the reef, she asked him if she could take him somewhere. He was wary, but he agreed nonetheless. Ameria took him back to the very shoreline that he captured her on so many weeks ago. For a moment, Medea thought that she would try to escape, but she never left the confinement of the water. She managed to lure a few seabirds close to the tides, feeding them scraps of food and stroking their glossy feathers. They were what she missed the most about the sky. The creatures that she had designed to soar in it with her.”

“She contemplated escape for a moment, but she wasn’t entirely sure that she wanted to escape anymore. She was beginning to fall in love with Medea. And on top of that, ever since he’d given her one of his hearts, she’d felt her powers fading. A mortal heart couldn’t sustain a Goddess. And as such, she knew that she was slowly becoming more and more mortal with each passing day. She knew that her time as a Goddess was drawing to a close.”

“When she returned with Medea to his home that night, she told him that she would consider accepting a proposal if he could provide her with three things. Three things that anyone who wanted a mate and children should be able to provide. Sustenance, shelter, and safety. Though they both agreed that he’d already fulfilled the safety clause when he gave one of his hearts for her. Medea happily agreed to her terms, and he set to work. He spent a week building a new home, a home big enough for a wife and children. And only when it was finished, did he go out hunting.”

“He’d always been a good hunter, and he had enough food for a small feast before midday. He took his catches back to the new house he’d built and prepared everything for dinner. When he finished, he gathered Ameria and brought her to show her everything that he’d done. He’d accomplished the last two things that she’d requested. She was taken with the effort he’d put in, and after dinner, she welcomed him into her bed.”

“Medea most certainly wanted to indulge, but he was exhausted after building a house and hunting several days worth of food in a few hours. He promptly fell asleep before he had a chance to initiate anything. When he woke up next her in the morning, she made another request of him. That they spend one day in each others company as though they were married, so that she may know what it would be like if she did agree to his proposal.”

“They stayed inside all day, eating the leftovers from the small feast yesterday. Throughout the day, they got to know each other better. Medea explained that he’d been in love with her for years, but that he’d never thought that any of this would ever be possible. Ameria explained that although she’d grown quite fond of the sea, she missed the sky terribly. That with each new sunrise she could feel her strength draining. That she knew that her time as a Goddess was rapidly coming to an end.” 

“Her words struck Medea. They kept him up all night after they laid down together. He realized what his love for her had stolen. He'd taken her life away. Her purpose. He was turning her into something meek, and small, and unimportant. And his Ameria should never be any of those things. So the next day, he gave her his proposal written in ink. But when she opened the letter, and all she found, was one white blank page.”

“Medea explained; Ameria; I love you more than the sea loves the shore, more than the sky loves the breeze, more than the night loves the stars. And when you love something, when you love it truly, you set it free. Be free, Ameria. Go forth and live your life, soar in the sky, and know that I will always love you from afar, that a part of me will always live on in you.”

“Ameria realized in that moment, that she hadn’t been entirely sure if she was going to accept his proposal until he gave her the freedom she longed for. But now that he was finally willing to let go, she was willing to stay. And so she replied; and when you love something, when you love it truly, you are willing to sacrifice many things for that love. I will not leave. I do not belong in the sky, not anymore. I belong with you. All I ask, is that you allow me one last thing, a way to remember the sky that will always hold a fond space in my heart.” 

“Medea agreed. And she used the last of her Godly powers to turn his skin the color of the sky that she loved. Two things that she loved, combined into one. Medea and Ameria married, years passed and eventually they had children. And those children were the start of the Amerdea race.” 

Roxanne sat in stunned silence for a long moment as she absorbed the story. She had to admit, it was a bit touching. She could certainly see the allure in the love story. In the act of going from enemies to lovers. “Is Ameria the Goddess you're always referring to?” She questioned softly as the silence began to linger.

“She is the Goddess of my people, yes,” Megamind answered, and Roxanne nodded at his words. She was just about to ask him to explain the courtship ritual in further detail when a strange voice echoed through the room.

“Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai.” She quickly turned in her seat to watch an alien walk into the room, the soft sound of chair legs scraping against the floor as Megamind stood to greet the stranger. 

“Savui Auris Latarum. You’re early.” He offered as he stepped towards the stranger, reaching out a hand as they clasped each others arms like some kind of strange handshake.

“The tides were kind.” The stranger offered, before quickly adding, “Would you like me to wait on the transport until you’re ready?” His eyes drifted over to her as he asked, and Roxanne couldn’t help but suddenly feel very scrutinized.

“Are you ready to go?” Megamind questioned curiously a moment later, turning back to look at her as he waited for her response.

“I don’t see why not.” She breathed, and he offered her a smile before beckoning her to join the two of them. 

Roxanne swallowed as she stood up and made her way over, slightly surprised by the fact that she towered over the strange alien. He looked at her almost warily for a moment before suddenly speaking to Megamind in their native language as he started towards the winding hallways. She listened to their back and forth in a language that she knew nothing about as they continued through the winding halls before standing before the threshold of what was clearly a submarine, given the view from the portholes. 

Megamind and the stranger waltzed into it without a second thought while she lingered in the doorway. Something about the moment felt monumental in a way that she couldn’t really describe. Like if she took another step she was accepting this new chapter in her life, going willingly into something unknown, and quite honestly, a little terrifying. 

“Is everything alright, Miss Ritchi?” Megamind’s voice pulled her from her thoughts as she glanced up at him. She opened her mouth to tell him that everything was fine before settling for a simple nod instead. At her affirmative, he held out a hand towards her, most likely to steady her between the transition of solid flooring, and the swaying floor of the submarine. She drew a deep breath before accepting, sliding her hand into his much cooler one as she stepped into the submarine. 

If there was one thing she knew, it was that at this point, there was no going back.


	4. Day Two - Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the comments! I loved them all! :D
> 
> Apologies for the week-long hiatus, I was terribly busy.
> 
> A quick announcement; updates for this month will probably be highly irregular. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life in May; finals week, graduation from university, my birthday, my husbands birthday, and a move 2000 miles across the country for work. So, please bear with me!
> 
> Last, but certainly not least. Sorry for the short chapter! I think day two is going to be broken into three separate chapters. And I apologize in advance for my attempts to explain how Megamind's tech works. I am definitely not a scientist, and my degree in civil engineering has in no way prepared me for the struggles of attempting to rationalize the science behind invisible cars and holographic watches.

“Miss Ritchi.” A soft voice called from the edges of unconsciousness. She grumbled at the sound, curling deeper into herself in an attempt to block it out. “Miss Ritchi.” It tried again. Louder. More insistent. The sweet capture of sleep drifted away at the sound, giving way to the haze of wakefulness.

“What?” She grumbled, some small part of her mind taking note of the fact that she was too tired to form the word correctly.

“We're here.” The voice stated softly, and she frowned at the answer. She didn’t know where _here_ was. And quite honestly, she didn’t care. “If you get up you can sleep in your new room.” The voice added, a soft weight resting on her blanket-clad shoulder. 

“Goway.” She growled, the two words blending into one as she pulled the blanket tighter around her body and pressed her face deeper into the pillow.

“Miss Ritchi.” The voice tried again, some kind of sharp edge tainting the consonants of her name. A long moment of silence lapsed on before a long-suffering sigh escaped the owner of the voice. Some kind of shuffling noise came from behind her a moment before the weight on her shoulder ripped the blanket away with ease.

Roxanne shrieked in protest, her hands scrambling to try and grab the thick swath of fabric, but by the time she reacted it was already gone. She blinked in the bright lights around herself as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Before she had a chance to try and sit up, long arms wrapped under the bend of her knees and around her back under her arms. 

One moment, she was laying against a padded cot, the next she was very aware of the fact that someone was carrying her. She rubbed a hand against her bleary eyes as she instinctively curled into the barely-there warmth of the person carrying her. 

She tried to look around for a moment, only catching a blurred glimpse of white and blue colors before letting out a sleepy grumble and pressing her face into the firm, cloth-covered form of the person carrying her in an attempt to blot out the light. She drew in a long breath, hoping to find the sweet embrace of sleep once more when she noticed the crisp, clean, and entirely exotic smell clinging to the fabric. 

A moment later a voice broke the silence, foreign and lilting. With every word the sound reverberated back at her from her makeshift pillow; somehow warmer and richer as it rumbled beneath her ear. She didn’t really realize what she was doing when she buried her face deeper into the cloth-clad form, she only really knew that she wanted _more_. She lifted a hand, letting it trace along the fabric for a moment before it found an opening, her fingers slipping against something smoother than the fabric as she wrapped her fingers around the hem. 

One moment, the soft rumbling sound was lulling her back to sleep, and the next she was groaning in protest as she was suddenly placed against something cold. Sure, it was soft enough, but did it have to be so cold? She barely even noticed the hand prying her fingers from their grip on the hem of something. She grumbled once more, the cold surface beneath her quickly warming as she released her hold on the fabric in favor of tangling her fingers with the ones pulling her away.

The touch seemed to linger for a moment, or at least her half-asleep mind told her it did. “Sleep, Roxanne.” The voice murmured, the brief sensation of a thumb running across the back of her hand following the words a moment before the fingers carefully pulled away.

She frowned at the order but found herself inadvertently complying a few seconds later when the fog of sleep began to embrace her once more.

****

**< ^^><^^><^^><^^><^^><^^>**

Roxanne sighed as she wiped the condensation off of the bathroom mirror. When she’d woken up an hour ago in a new, somehow even more luxurious room, she’d figured that they’d made it to the mothership. She’d barely even stepped into the shower when she remembered last night. At first, she tried to write it off as a dream, but as much as she may want to, she knew that it’d actually happened.

She let out a long sigh as she thought about the way Megamind would most certainly poke fun at it this morning. There was no way that he’d let the moment fade into the past. He would doubtlessly mock the moment, it wasn’t like he realized how vulnerable and important it had been. Roxanne pursed her lips as she automatically reached for the spot where her hairdryer resided in her apartment, coming up woefully short. She sighed as she glanced at her wet hair, silently cursing the lack of hair care products. 

She stepped out of the bathroom as her mind drifted back to last night. He’d called her Roxanne. That was… unusual. Granted she’d only known him for one day, but he seemed quite fixed on _Miss Ritchi_. She shook the thought from her mind as she rummaged through the wardrobe, each and every outfit identical to the ones next to it. 

From what she could tell everyone seemed to wear the same exact thing, the only exception being that Megamind wore a cape. She frowned at the thought as she slipped into one of the grey and white jumpsuits. Why didn’t she get a cape? She liked capes.

A loud, pounding knock sounded from her door as she slipped on a pair of white boots. She tried to ignore the sudden flutter of excitement in her chest, drawing in a long breath as she attempted to squash it. She should not be getting flustered at the prospect of getting to see Megamind. She sternly reminded herself of everything that came in the package with him. A kid, possibly several kids. The burden of outliving everyone she knew, even the kids in her family. Those were some pretty damn big drawbacks. 

She steeled herself in as she pulled open the door, annoyed at the swoop of disappointment when she saw a familiar fish waiting for her outside her door. “Minyn.” She greeted him, watching as he gave her a toothy grin.

“Ma'am.” He returned, his fins fluttering happily as he continued, “Sir sent me to escort you to breakfast.”

“Right.” She nodded at his words, instinctively looking around for her purse before remembering that she didn’t have or need it. She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind herself as she glanced around the wide hallway. “Am I ever going to be able to explore on my own? You know, without being _escorted_ everywhere?” She asked as Minion gestured her towards the right, walking beside her as she looked around the sterile hallway.

“You're allowed to do that right now, but I'm certain that Sir would advise against it,” Minyn answered immediately, turning her down a hallway to the left that also seemed to be some kind of residential ward.

“Why?” She pressed, lifting an eyebrow as she gave him a look that dared him not to answer.

“You don't know how to speak or read our language, and although the vast majority of the Amerdea population has already learned your language, not all of them have yet.” He answered immediately, and yeah, she definitely should have thought about that. Being able to communicate with the locals would be a big part of getting out on her own. “Also, you're a human. Most of the populace has never interacted with a human, you're going to draw attention wherever you go.” He added simply as they stepped out of the end of the hallway into a massive room.

Roxanne held in a gasp as she looked around. The ceiling was vaulted, showing off five different stories of banisters that she could see. The roof was one big skylight, letting the sunlight pour in. What she could only describe as storefronts lined the walls, scrawling alien words lining doorways and arches. A massive waterfall stood in the center of the room, bright, alien plants lining its edges, a much-needed pop of neon yellow, purple, and orange made the room feel less like a hospital and more like a mall. 

Several dozen aliens roamed around, all of them wearing the same white and grey jumpsuit as they milled around. She followed Minyn deeper into the room, trying to commit everything to memory. At least if the whole arranged marriage thing turned out to be a bust she’d have the story of the century for KMCP, talk about being guaranteed a job until retirement. As they continued deeper into the room, she began to notice the way that the aliens reacted when they actually noticed her.

One man came to an abrupt stop as he shook his head as though he thought he was seeing something before staring at her like she was some sort of mystical creature in the flesh. One girl tugged on her mother's hand, alien words escaping her mouth as the woman glanced behind her shoulder at them for a split second before flinching and veering out of the way. A boy standing with a group of his friends nudged one of them in the elbow before gesturing to her with a nod as all of them stared at her, soft whispers in a language she didn’t know filling the air. 

“Are humans… disliked?” Roxanne ventured as she quickly looked over at Minyn, watching as he glanced over at the group of boys before his gaze settled on her. 

“I don’t believe so. We have no reason to dislike you. I think most of them are wary though,” Minyn answered, giving her a sympathetic look as he continued, “They've only read about your species. The wars, and the violence, and the slavery.” 

Roxanne winced at his words. Yeah… if she’d had a chance to read about everything the aliens had done wrong before she ever met one of them she would definitely see them differently. “Slavery is a big deal with Amerdea's.” Minyn added as he leaned down slightly, the words quiet, as though even mentioning the word was a social taboo. “The media has said some stuff about humans, but they're the media. It's what they do.”

“What has the media said?” Roxanne quickly questioned, jumping on the fact that they apparently had news broadcasts, and wondering how bad the stories could be. She knew firsthand how easy it was to sway the news to fit a bias, as long as you said the right things and asked the right questions you could make people believe just about anything.

“You probably don't want to know,” Minyn stated, an edge to his voice that immediately told her that whatever the stories were, they weren’t good. 

“I think I have a right to know.” She pressed, her voice growing steely as she gave him an icy no-nonsense reporter look. 

Minyn let out a long sigh, and she could tell that he didn’t really want to, but he began after a half-second pause. “There's a media office that's never been particularly approving of Sir. At least not since…” Minyn trailed off abruptly, his mouth snapping shut as he shook himself slightly before moving on as though he’d said nothing. “There may have been a news report about how a human is a perfect mate for an Aevus like Sir… because you're both so prone to violence you could just kill each other and save everyone else the headache.” 

“What?” Roxanne questioned, her voice rising as anger flooded through her veins. She wasn’t violent! And where did they get off trying to say that Megamind was violent? A little quirky? Yes. A bit odd? Definitely. But violent? He certainly didn’t strike her as a violent person. “They said that?” She pressed, part of her wondering if it had been a news outlet doing the report, or one of those ‘opinion’ pieces. Minyn simply nodded at her question, and she shook her head as she pressed, “Has anyone talked to them?”

“No. We have freedom of the press. They're allowed to state their opinions on air so long as they air a disclaimer before and after the programming.” He answered briskly and Roxanne nodded mutely as she continued to follow Minyn into an even larger room. She didn’t get to marvel at the splendor of it like she had with the last one, still caught up in what Minyn had said earlier.

He was avoiding something. Last night he’d done an abrupt one-eighty when he started to talk about Megamind’s past, and now he’d done it again. There was something there, her nosey reporter senses were tingling. And again, Minyn had brought up that Aevus word, even used it in relation to Megamind. She quickly decided to double down on one of the two questions she had as she spoke up, “Minyn, what's an Ae-”

“Miss Ritchi!” Megamind’s loud, and almost desperate sounding voice rang through the air, cutting her off mid-sentence and immediately pulling her attention away from the fish. She watched as he quickly pulled away from a woman, her hands tangled in his cape as he made his way over to her with long strides, the fabric slipping from her fingers with a snapping sound.

As soon as he was close enough he reached out an arm, wrapping it around her as his hand came to rest on the swell of her hip as he pulled her into his side. Roxanne tried not to act startled by the sudden greeting, doing her best to ignore the way her heart was racing in her chest at his closeness. “Daria, allow me to introduce you to my betrothed,” Megamind began boldly, lifting a hand and gesturing towards her as his eyes met hers. “Roxanne.”

She swallowed thickly as she tried to ignore the way his voice curved around the syllables of her name. That small, pessimistic voice in the back of her mind scolding her fiercely; _you said you weren't going to fall in love with him but here you are getting flustered because you like the way he says your name_. Roxanne forced her gaze back over to the now dejected looking woman, offering her a tight smile and holding her hand out to shake as she spoke, “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“Right. You too.” She offered softly, a frown pulling at the corner of her mouth as her eyes slowly trailed over her in a way that somehow made her feel almost critiqued. If it wasn’t for her defeated tone she would have taken it as a challenge, but something about the way the words were uttered made it seem like the woman didn’t care to compete. 

The rational part of her mind said that even if the stranger was competition she wouldn’t bother to waste her time on petty games, she could have him for all she cared; but some smaller, often ignored part of her was unignorably possessive, maybe even a little jealous. God, why did this all have to be so confusing?

“I actually have to get going though. Have a nice day.” The woman offered, plastering an obviously fake smile on her face as her eyes met Megamind’s. She didn’t give either of them a chance to reply before she turned away, making her way into the sea of aliens milling around with ease. 

The moment that Roxanne lost track of her in the crowd Megamind let go of her and took a step back, letting out a long, relieved sigh as his posture relaxed. “You could not have had better timing.” He offered, a breathless half-chuckle escaping him as he shook his head, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. 

Roxanne eyed him for a long moment at the comment, trying to piece together what had been going on before she made an appearance. “Do you know her well?” She questioned, making sure that she kept her voice impartial, nonchalant. So what if it _maybe_ bothered her to see someone clinging to him desperately? It wasn’t like he had to know that. And really, was it any of her business? This whole arrangement was just that. _An arrangement_. He probably didn’t want this either. He was probably just as much of a pawn as she was.

“She's my cousin,” Megamind easily supplied a half-second later, and Roxanne didn’t bother to hide the shock that his answer stirred up. She certainly seemed very _friendly_ to be _family_. Unless maybe his species was totally cool with that kind of thing? “Which, you know, makes it just a little weird when she starts hitting on me.” He added, his voice quickly taking on a sickened tone as he scowled at the ground as though it was a personal affront to his being.

“It's not that big of a deal, Sir. Your parents are cousins,” Minyn piped up brightly from Roxanne’s side, and her eyes grew wide as she glanced between Megamind and the fish beside her. It would have been impossible not to realize the way his posture turned so inherently defensive in the blink of an eye. 

“If by, my parents are cousins, you mean that they both come from different branches of the same division then sure, _fine_ ,” Megamind growled, his voice low, a threat of danger lingering in every word as he stalked towards Minyn with unnerving, almost predatory grace. “But you could trace my family tree back at least three hundred generations before they started sharing the same ancestors. That's hardly the same!” He continued, his voice growing louder as he grabbed Minyn by his robotic shoulders and shook him roughly. “She's my _direct_ cousin! It's creepy!” He practically shouted as he released Minyn's suit. 

“She's young. It's just a crush," Minyn stated, clearly attempting to write the whole thing off, or maybe trying to soothe Megamind. 

“I don't care! I'm uncomfortable!” He immediately retorted, shooting the fish a scathing glare before casting Roxanne a far softer look. “It’s creepy, yes?” He pressed, clearly seeking affirmation.

She nodded at the question before answering, “A little bit.” 

“See!” Megamind exclaimed, immediately giving Minyn another unamused glare. 

“Yes, Sir. You're right," Minyn sighed, and Roxanne had to hold back a smirk at his tone. 

“I'm always right, Minyn," Megamind muttered, waving away his friends words before looking over at Roxanne again. She barely managed to catch a glimpse of Minyn rolling his eyes at the alien before he was asking her, “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Umm…" Roxanne deadpanned at the question for a moment, silently struggling to figure out why he suddenly cared. "I usually just have coffee and toast.”

“A cafe then," Megamind murmured, nodding once at the words as he stared at the ground for a moment before looking up at her with a wide smile. “Come on, Miss Ritchi.” His bright voice filled the air as he offered her a hand, leaving her to glance between his outstretched palm and the suggestive smile pulling at his mouth.

“Are you asking me to hold your hand?” Roxanne deadpanned, lifting a single eyebrow as she mustered up an unamused expression.

“The mothership is home to six and a half million people. It's busy,” Megamind explained, the picture of innocence. He beckoned for her hand with his fingers before his tone quickly turned playful, “I'd hate to get separated on accident.” 

Roxanne huffed out a breath of laughter at his words, rolling her eyes and shaking her head even as a smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “You're not as smooth as you think.” She chided as she slipped her hand into his despite her better judgment.

“Are you sure about that?” He questioned, smirking at her as he lifted an eyebrow. She swallowed thickly when his hand tightened around hers, fingers shifting until they were twining together. “I got what I wanted didn't I?” He chuckled, his thumb running along the back of her hand as she tried her best to hold back a shiver at the feeling. It was easier to tell how inhuman he was when she was touching him; his body was just a little too cold to pass for human, his skin was just a little too smooth, his fingers were just a little too long. Not that she was going to complain, the innately non-human traits were a bit… refreshing. 

She shook the thought from her head as he gently tugged her along through the ship. Roxanne did her best to focus on her surroundings, or anything that wasn’t Megamind, for that fact. Unfortunately, the most distracting thing didn’t turn out to be the alien architecture or fauna surrounding her, but rather the lingering stares and whispers from the aliens around them. At first, she assumed that it was just her, but as they passed more and more people she began to realize that she wasn’t the _only_ one being stared at, pointed at, or whispered about. Oddly enough, they seemed far more interested in Megamind than in her. 

“Are you like a celebrity or something?” Roxanne questioned softly, nudging his upper arm with her shoulder before glancing around pointedly. 

Megamind let a quick, dismissive glance flit across the room before offering a shrug as he quietly answered, “I'm sure it varies depending on who you ask. Some people love me, some people hate me. It is what it is.” 

“So are they staring at me or you?” She pressed as they continued through the ship, doing her best to ignore the way her instincts screamed at her to press into his side for protection when a small group of men in the crowd shot a death glare at the both of them. 

“Probably a bit of both,” Megamind answered smoothly the second her words died in the air. Either he didn’t notice the murderous looks being shot at them, or he didn’t care. “I've been a bit… distant from the general populace these last few years.” He continued with ease, pulling her deeper into the ship as he glanced down at her with a smug grin. “And you, my dear, stick out like a sore thumb.” 

Roxanne rolled her eyes at the playful quip before sarcastically responding, “Wow. You know just how to sweet talk a girl.”

He chuckled at her words, pulling her abruptly towards the right and into a corridor that reminded her of those aquariums where you got to walk through an underwater tunnel. Unlike an aquarium though, the only life outside in the water were the few starfish that had plastered themselves to the sides of the curved glass walls. It wasn’t until they stepped out of the tunnel and into a smaller pavilion that he gestured towards the walls with his free hand as he asked, “So, how do you like it?”

She glanced around the white and gray decorated space, her eyes lingering on the water feature in the middle of the square that was oddly reminiscent of a koi pond. “It's a bit lavish.” She answered after a moment, her eyes lingering on the gleaming polished walls, the sparkling glass roof, the fact that everything was so impossibly clean. It was like the pages of a sci-fi novel come to life before her eyes. “Is this how you lived back on your home planet?”

“No.” He chuckled as he shook his head, seeming to mull over her question for a moment before he clarified, “We had villages. Think of… Bora Bora. The houses in the water.” Roxanne’s eyes grew wide as her mind suddenly conjured images of Sandals resorts locations, television ads for those romantic tropical honeymoon getaways. “We did that,” Megamind added simply, and she shook her head at how nonchalantly he explained it.

“You guys lived in overwater bungalows?” She pressed, thinking that perhaps she’d misunderstood him, or maybe he’d gotten his geographical locations mixed up.

“We did. I miss it.” He answered, something longing and mournful tainting the words. She swallowed thickly at the sudden reminder that everything he’d had, everything his people had, had been stripped away and they’d been powerless to do anything to stop it. God, the thought alone was a fucking nightmare. “And, like I said, villages. Our branch had twelve different villages.” He added, his voice lightening significantly as he offered her what was probably supposed to be a carefree smile, though it was just a little to tight at the edges to be truly convincing. 

“Half a million people per village makes it sound more like a city,” Roxanne stated, before silently scolding herself for acting so neutral about what was really going on. She could tell that his old planet was a sore spot, and she knew that she should try to comfort him, or reassure him, or offer to just let him vent about it; and honestly, she felt guilty for trying to brush it off so nonchalantly. She _should_ care, fuck, she _did_ care. But giving him an opportunity to open up like that… it would only humanize him that much more, and she _needed_ to keep him at a distance, she _needed_ to remember that he was decidedly _not human_.

“Well, you get the picture,” Megamind replied, a genuine smile tugging at his mouth as he rolled his eyes at her. “Every village had a city center. Shops, research facilities, agriculture centers, so on and so forth.” He explained, and Roxanne tried to picture it; a city hub in the center surrounded by sprawling houses. “This is claustrophobic by our old standards.” He sighed, looking around the room with obvious distaste.

“Why not settle in?” She questioned curiously, watching as he mulled over the inquiry for a moment. 

“Well, the alliance isn't final until we wed.” He offered softly, his voice neutral in a way that made her feel like he was making a conscious effort to keep it that way. “And even then, we'll have to have conferences with your government, sign treaties, and get approval to build in your waters.” He let out a hefty sigh as soon as he finished, giving her a pained look before he added, “Diplomacy is a process.”

“How long do you think it'll take to rebuild?” She asked, silently wondering if his culture would even be restored before he died. Twelve overwater cities, homes for six million people… it sounded like an absolutely herculean task. 

“After we've dealt with all the political intricacies, I'd say roughly six months.” He answered simply, only deliberating over the answer for a second. 

“Six months,” Roxanne deadpanned, giving him a blank stare as she clarified, “To build housing for six million people?”

“Impressed?” Megamind chuckled, another smug smile pulling at his lips as she let out a surprised huff of breath. She didn’t have long to wonder what kind of construction technology they used before he was pulling her into a cafe. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy, most of the tables were empty. Not that it mattered, they were the center of everyone's attention from the moment they stepped inside. He pulled her to the back of the line with ease, clearly doing a much better job of ignoring everyone's stares than she was. “We haven't actually started trading with America yet, so, I'm afraid there's no coffee.” He murmured as he leaned down, his breath tickling the shell of her ear as he spoke. 

“There was coffee yesterday,” Roxanne breathed, swallowing thickly as she stared at the alien language scrawled across the menus above the counter in an attempt to calm her racing heartbeat, silently praying that he didn’t notice the way her hand involuntarily tightened around his at the sound of his voice in her ear. 

“I may have… taken it.” He answered softly, and she swallowed thickly as she silently cursed him for using what _had_ to be his bedroom voice in public. 

It took a few seconds for his words to really sink in, and as soon as they did she turned her head to give him a concerned look, “Are you saying that you stole coffee?” The sentence grew quieter with each word as she suddenly realized how close he was. Looking over was definitely a mistake. It probably looked like they were about to make out. They were certainly well within make-out distance.

“I mean… if that's how you want to interpret it,” Megamind answered quietly, lifting a single eyebrow as he stared her down. 

For a moment, Roxanne was silent. But then the reality of the situation came crashing down on her. He’d stolen _coffee_. Her country was willing to go through the trouble of setting up an arranged marriage raffle, and yet he hadn’t had the sense to simply _ask_ for the coffee. No. Who would do that? Of course coffee would be where they drew the line. Now that was just _too much_ to ask for. Who did he think he was?

She broke down into laughter at the thought, doubling over with the force of it as she pressed her face into his upper arm. Her hand tightening around his as her other hand wrapped around his bicep, grabbing onto him to keep her upright as laughter made her body wrack. By the time her laughter finally died down she was breathless, gasping for air as she pulled her hand from his surprisingly firm arm to wipe away a few stray tears before straightening. 

What she wasn’t expecting, was the gentle, almost awed look on Megamind’s face. She blushed at the expression, clearing her throat as she forced herself to look back at the menu that she couldn’t decipher. This was okay. She was _not_ panicking. Okay. Maybe she was panicking a little bit. But what else was she supposed to do? What else would anyone do when their arranged alien fiance was looking at them like he was already in love? 

“So, what do you guys have?” Roxanne questioned breathlessly finally daring another glance at him only to find his eyes firmly fixed on the menu, his expression cooled back into neutrality.

“Tea. Lots of tea.” He answered immediately, glancing over at her with a smile as he added, “Fruit juice. Water.”

“Caffeinated tea?” Roxanne pressed hopefully.

“Caffeine is a sort of controlled substance among my species,” Megamind answered, giving her a pitying look as he explained, “We have a hard time handling it.”

She let out a hefty sigh at his answer, her eyes drifting over the foreign menu as she grumbled, “This is gonna be a long two weeks.” She drew in a deep breath before looking over at him and stating, “I'll take some tea though.” 

“Any particular flavor?”

Her eyes lingered on the sprawling menu as she wondered how long it would take Megamind to list them all for her before she finally answered, “Surprise me.”

He smiled at the two simple words before another question tumbled from his lips, “Do you want your toast with or without smoked salmon?” 

“Without,” Roxanne answered immediately, internally cringing at the thought of something so rich at this time in the morning. “Do you guys have jam?”

“Will avocado and sprouts suffice?” Megamind questioned softly, and Roxanne couldn’t help but smirk at the phrasing.

“I suppose it shall suffice.” She answered playfully, earning a quiet half-chuckle from Megamind as he stepped up to the now empty counter. Roxanne watched as he greeted the clearly flustered barista in his native tongue. 

It was the first time she’d ever _really_ heard him use it, and she quickly realized that it emphasized the full range of his very alien vocal spectrum. She could barely even tell when one word ended and the next began. It sounded like their vowels were rolled, their consonants were harsh, and there was the occasional clicking noise that she doubted a human could even replicate. 

As quickly as the conversation began, it ended, and Megamind was turning back to her as he asked, “Where would you like to sit?”

Roxanne quickly glanced around the space, noting the three tables that were already occupied with people who still seemed to be a little too interested in their presence. She quickly decided on a small two-person table shoved into the back corner of the lounge, it seemed private, and as far as she could get from prying eyes and ears. 

Megamind followed her to the table silently, settling into his seat across from her wordlessly. As the seconds ticked by in silence she shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the way his green eyes never left her face. “So, what do you do to contribute to society?” Roxanne questioned; partly out of curiosity, and partly to end this unnerving, silent staring contest.

Megamind smiled at the question, folding his hands on top of the table as he began, “It's a bit broad. STEM fields in general.” It took a second for Roxanne to recall the meaning of the acronym, an old interview she did with a biological engineer coming to mind; science, technology, engineering, and math. It actually fit Megamind better than she cared to admit. 

“I do a lot of engineering. Computer coding and system architecture. Some biological experiments, though not too frequently.” He continued with ease, falling silent when the barista brought them two plates laden with food and two steaming mugs. Megamind said something in his native tongue that the woman quickly recounted before leaving, a thank you, most likely. Roxanne glanced at the small mountain of avocado adorning her toast as he pushed one of the steaming mugs towards her as he quietly offered, “I got you coconut creme.”

“Thank you,” Roxanne replied as she took the steaming mug in her hands, relishing in the warmth that quickly permeated her skin. “Are you going to show me where you work? Examples of what you do?” She questioned as she lifted the cup to her lips, taking a small sip of the hot drink as she watched Megamind take a bite of his salmon adorned toast. 

“I am.” He answered as soon as he swallowed the food in his mouth, lifting his own mug and taking a long drink before he asked, “Would you like me to start now?”

“Do you have something to show me right now?” Roxanne questioned curiously, watching a devilish smirk spread across his face as he set his drink down. His eyes didn’t leave hers as his hand went to his watch, twisting the dial around the face of it before the politician she’d met at the end of the raffle suddenly took Megamind’s place at the table.

Roxanne almost dropped her drink at the sudden change, her eyes quickly taking in the length of him as she breathed, “You…” 

It had been him all along. 

_Do I know you? ...Not yet._

_I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere._

_I’d say I’m sorry, but I’d hate to start this relationship out with a lie._

“Impressed?” Megamind questioned, a wide grin covering the politicians face as his raspy voice filled the air. It was almost impossible to tell who was really sitting across from her. The only give was the bright green color of his eyes staring back at her. 

“Enraged!” Roxanne hissed, quickly setting her drink down as she lunged for his wrist. She sucked in a breath as her fingers wrapped around his skin. It was still too cold to be human, but she could literally feel the hairs on the back of his hand. Hairs that she knew Megamind didn’t have. “You made this?” She questioned quietly, rotating his wrist back and forth as she stared at the unassuming watch critically. He nodded once at her question before she marveled, “How does it even work?”

“Now now, that's a trade secret,” Megamind gently chided. Slowly pulling his arm from her hands as he gave the watch a lingering look. “These haven't gone public yet, and I don't think I'm ever going to release the plans. This technology is too dangerous.” He explained, his voice soft, almost introspective. 

“How is this dangerous?” Roxanne questioned, gesturing towards his unnervingly human form.

“I could hack a voice authentication algorithm right now. Bypass fingerprint sensors. I could go on air as this Governor from Maine and send the state into a panic telling the people unfounded lies.” He explained, his voice darkening with each word. “The ability to steal a person's physical form is _very_ dangerous.” He remarked as he twisted the face of the watch again, the image of the politician dissipating as quickly as it had appeared.

“Good point,” Roxanne ceded, picking up her toast before gesturing towards him with it, “I still want to know how it works though.”

Megamind smirked at her persistence, a soft chuckle escaping him as he flipped his wrist over and easily unbuckled the strap. “In order to take a person's form, they have to put it on.” He explained as he pulled it from his wrist before gesturing for her to give him her hand. She swallowed thickly as she set down her toast and complied. “It takes a cellular sample and breaks down physical traits. Hair color, texture, skin color, age.” He explained as he easily fastened it around her wrist. 

She winced when the buckle caught the thin skin on the inside of her wrist for a second as he slid the strap through. A half second later she tensed, he’d said it took a cellular sample. What better way to discreetly take a sample than make the wearer of the watch _think_ that the buckle caught their skin, when really, the watch was doing its job.

“Then there's a brief scan to check for height and weight, hair length, etcetera.” He added, and if she wasn’t staring at the face of the watch she would have missed the way the black faceplate pulsed blue for a moment before fading back to black. “You know how light is both a wave and a particle?” Megamind asked, and she mutely nodded as she recalled one of the old high school science lectures she’d endured. “It distorts the waves of light to make it appear as though you're someone else. It also freezes the light particles around you. Whenever something touches the illusion of the waves, the particles condense to mimic substance, texture, pressure.”

Roxanne nodded at the explanation as she lifted the watch closer to her face, watching as a small red light near the bottom of the face rapidly pulsed. “It collects voice data until it has enough information to recreate the entirety of the vocal spectrum. Changing the tone and pitch of your natural voice by manipulating the sound waves. The amplitude, frequency, wavelength.” He added, his fingers brushing almost lovingly over the glass casing the face before he pulled his hand away. “This is my most recent work. It was… beyond difficult.” 

“How long did it take you to invent?” Roxanne questioned as she pulled her eyes back to his face.

“Only a year, but it was a year of countless frustrations,” Megamind answered, tapping his fingertips against the table as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“Okay, about the whole your years or my years thing,” Roxanne began, leaning in over the table slightly before she finished, “One of your years is the equivalent of two of mine?”

“Roughly two,” Megamind answered immediately. “To be precise it's two point three seven four eight.” 

“Can we pick one or the other to go off of? I just, don't really want to always second guess timelines.” She explained, watching as he beckoned for her hand once again.

She held her hand out obediently, watching as he quickly pulled the watch off of her wrist again. “I thought that we would both just refer to our own years. If you say two years I know it's one. If I say four you know it's eight.” He explained as he quickly placed the watch back on his wrist, buckling it with practiced efficiency. 

“That works,” Roxanne mumbled, slightly annoyed at the prospect of constantly doing the math in her head. Even if it was simple math. “So, was this a solo endeavor or were you the manager of a team?” She questioned as she gestured to the watch on his wrist.

She watched as he twisted the face again, twice in a row, and suddenly she was staring at herself. “It was a solo endeavor. I rarely work with anyone but Minyn.” Her own voice answered, and she clenched her teeth at the strangeness of the sight. 

“What’s an Aevus?” She questioned boldly a moment later. He seemed quite open with information at the moment, and it was a question that she’d wanted the answer to ever since she’d first heard the word yesterday.

The expression on Megamind’s face faltered, suspicion quickly clouding the features he was wearing as he twisted the face of the watch, letting her appearance fade away. “Where did you hear about those?” The question was curious, tentative, but at least he didn’t sound angry. 

“Minyn mentioned the word briefly.” She answered nonchalantly, taking a bite of her toast as she tried to act like his sudden shift in mood didn’t raise several red flags.

Megamind let out a hefty sigh before he finally answered, “An Aevus is a variation of my species.” She nodded at the explanation before gesturing for him to continue. If he thought that he could get off that easy he was wrong. She wanted a _real_ answer. “According to legend, an Aevus is a direct descendent of Ameria and Medea. You know, a pure bloodline.” He added, and Roxanne mulled over his words for a moment.

“An Aevus is one of their kids or grandkids?” She questioned, watching as he nodded an affirmative at her words.

“Or great-grandchildren, great-great-grandchildren, et cetera.” He added, waving a hand through the air as he spoke. “An Aevus is also…” He trailed off for a long moment, tracing an invisible pattern across the tabletop as he stared down at it. “Think of this branch like a wolf pack. The six million citizens it has are the individual members if the pack. An Aevus would be like the alpha of that wolf pack.” She nodded at the metaphor, watching him carefully as he continued, “Aevus's are a bit larger, stronger, faster.” 

She nodded at his words, silently taking stock of the fact that Megamind was a solid half-foot taller than any of the other aliens she’d seen on the ship. He was just a few inches taller than her, while she could see over the other aliens' heads with ease. “From a _purely_ scientific view, it's believed that Aevus's evolved to provide protection for regular Amerdea's from predators and such.” He added, folding his hands on top of each other as he stared back at her.

“That's why leadership is handed down from parent to child,” Roxanne breathed, as another piece of the puzzle settled into place. The picture suddenly growing clearer. “You're an Aevus like one of your parents.” She added, watching as he gave a simple nod at the statement.

“I am, yes,” Megamind murmured, taking his mug in his hands and running his thumbs over the white porcelain. “And both of my parents are Aevus's.” He added, his eyes flicking down to his drink. “My mother is the only heir to the Urvai bloodline other than me. My father is the third born of the Suri bloodline.” He lifted one of his hands, his index finger absently tracing the rim of the cup. “They had an arranged marriage too.” The words were soft, almost whispered.

“Are arranged marriages common for your species?” Roxanne questioned quietly, watching as his eyes flicked back up to meet hers.

“Only among Aevus's.” He answered, lifting the mug and taking a sip before he explained, “My father married my mother because he was a peace treaty offered by his father.” Roxanne shook her head softly at his words, her eyebrows drawing together as she tried to imagine what his home life must have been like. “I always grew up with the expectation that something similar would happen to me eventually.” He added, gesturing between the two of them with an open hand.

Roxanne swallowed at the implication. But it was the same scenario, wasn’t it? His father was a peace treaty for his mother. She was a peace treaty for him. She swallowed at the realization, her next words tumbling from her lips before she even realized what she was saying, “Do you think they love each other?” She swallowed at the confused look that pulled at his features, silently scolding herself for the question. Part of her wanted to wave it away, but what was the point? In for a penny, in for a pound. Right? “Your parents?” She pressed, watching as he mulled over the question.

“I think they do.” He answered after a long moment of silence, his answer confident. “I don't think they did at first, but, they seem happy together now. They've seemed happy for almost as long as I can remember.” He added, his lips curving up into a smile as he stared down at his drink, clearly reminiscing. 

“What about your parents?” He asked a moment later, surprising her with the question. “Do you think they love each other?” For a moment she wondered if he was joking, but he seemed genuinely curious. Roxanne quickly reminded herself that her culture was as alien to him as his was to her. 

She let herself ponder the question for a moment. Thinking back over the years of date nights, and fights, and shared family time. “I'm not sure anymore.” She answered quietly, pursing her lips at the admission. Sure, on the outside her parents put up a perfect facade, but behind closed doors… it was obvious that their marriage was crumbling at the foundation. 

“I think they really loved each other when they got married, but these days they seem kinda distant.” She explained, swallowing thickly as she continued, “Almost like they maybe fell _out_ of love with each other at some point.” She took a long swig of her drink as soon as the words died, as if she could wash the taste of the admission from her mouth. 

A moment of silence lapsed on as she shot the table a glare before her eyes met Megamind’s again. She wasn’t intending on elaborating, but he looked empathetic, intent on her words; and Goddamnit, maybe she wanted to be able to talk to someone about her messy family. “These last few years I've wondered if my Dad hasn't filed for divorce because of the bad media. If my Mom hasn't filed because of the family drama and overall messiness.” She admitted, swallowing thickly and shrugging lamely as she added, “I think they get along, but I really wouldn't be surprised if one of them was having an affair.” 

Megamind nodded silently at her words, offering her a small, melancholic smile as his gaze drifted down to his drink. Silence lapsed on for what felt like an eternity before he quietly sighed, “Relationships are messy.”

She nodded at his admission, letting out a sigh of her own as she agreed, “Yeah they are.” 

Another long lapse of silence dragged on before he looked back up at her, swallowing thickly as he stared at her for an almost unnerving length of time. “Miss Ritchi, I never got the chance to apologize last night.” He began suddenly. “I was needlessly harsh. I…” He trailed off, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he quickly glanced down at the table. “I reacted poorly when I felt like you were mocking me, and I should have controlled myself.” He finished, pulling his gaze back up to meet hers as she tried to hide her surprise at the sudden, unexpected apology.

She could tell that he wasn’t used to apologizing. Every word seemed to pain him. He was clearly out of his element. And although she knew that she should probably accept his apology and move on, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to. Not yet, at least. “Do you see humans as animals?” The question was sudden, harsh; and she didn’t miss the way he flinched at the malice in her tone. 

“No.” He answered evenly, shaking his head softly with the word. “I was just pointing out your evolutionary background, and _I am_ sorry.” He explained, his voice growing softer with each word. She could tell that he was ashamed. _Good. He should be._ “I'll attempt to be kinder in the future.” He murmured the apology, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that made her want to shift in her seat.

She quickly glanced back down at her food, swallowing thickly at his apology. Wasn’t she partially responsible for what had happened? She was the one who lashed out in the first place after all, and he’d just sat there and admitted that he felt like she’d mocked him. And she had, hadn’t she? Only she _had_ meant to hurt him in the first place… he’d only responded to her exploiting a moment of vulnerability. 

“I'm sorry I made fun of you. I just…” Roxanne trailed off, swallowing thickly before drawing in a long breath. For a moment she considered just reiterating a quick, ‘I’m sorry’. But when she pulled her gaze up to meet his she decided against it. He’d given her a real apology, even if it had been hard for him to do. He deserved the same from her. She bit into her lower lip roughly, letting the pain distract her from what she was about to do before she forced the words from her mouth, “I'm better at pushing people away than I am at letting them in. It's safer.” 

As soon as she finished speaking she returned her gaze to the mug in her hands, her fingers tightening around the porcelain until her knuckles were white. It was harder than she expected, admitting that she’d _meant_ to hurt him, admitting that she did so because she was _afraid_. Embarrassment made her cheeks burn as she tried to draw deeper breaths.

She almost flinched when one of Megamind’s hands smoothed over the white-knuckled grip she had around the mug. Her eyes lingering on the contrast of blue against peach as his palm leached away some of her warmth. “I forgive you.” He offered softly, calloused fingertips gently caressing the back of her hand as she glanced up at him. Surprised to find no anger or judgment in his eyes, just… acceptance.

She swallowed thickly at his words, her heart hammering against the cage of her ribs as she pulled the fingertips of her free hand from the mug, carefully tracing them over the inside of his wrist as she offered a quiet, “I forgive you too.”


	5. Day Two - Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long!!! D: 
> 
> Sorry for the wait! Finals, graduation, and my husband's birthday are all over now. I'm mainly stuck packing and preparing for the move now; so please, continue to bear with me! :) 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I apologize in advance...

Roxanne followed Megamind down a long corridor of doors that he’d already explained were laboratories. He seemed excited to even be in the space, trailing in front of her as he continued his monologue about who’s lab was behind which door. She had to admit, it was endearing; like watching a little kid in a candy shop. It was hard to believe that he worked here and still managed to retain such glee. 

She shook her head and smiled at him as he continued to explain something about fission technology, her mind still reeling over breakfast far too much to actually focus on his words. Things had been quiet after their apologies, but not in an awkward way. It was more like they just didn’t need to talk because they didn’t need words to understand each other. It was refreshing.

It wasn’t until Megamind came to a stop in front of one of the heavily armored doors that she forced herself to focus on what he was actually saying. “And this,” He began, giving her a playful smirk as he rested his hand on the doorknob, “Is where I work my magic.” He let the door swing open as soon as he finished, revealing a pitch black room for a half-second before the automatic lights flickered to life. 

She stepped inside the room as she glanced around the glistening metal work table sitting in the middle of the room, blueprints littering the surface haphazardly. Computer screens took up the wall to her right, lines of code scrawling across them lazily. Meanwhile, the wall to her left was covered with beakers and test tubes, and the wall directly in front of her was covered with an assortment of tools and supplies, drills, saws, long strips of metal piping. Paper was strung from the ceiling by strings in several places, the pages slowly twisting back and forth, revealing the strange cacophony of shapes littering them.

It was chaotic.

“I haven't had much of a chance to work these last few months,” Megamind admitted as he followed her inside. The heavy, metallic clank of the door shutting made her jump, quickly daring a glance behind her as a mechanical whirring noise filled the air. Several thick deadbolts latched into place behind them, promptly followed by a hissing noise as the room pressurized. She drew in a shaky breath at the knowledge of how well defended this room was. The real question was if it was to keep people out, or to keep inventions gone awry in.

When the room fell quiet she returned her gaze to the scene before her. Only a few seconds passed before a pile of papers on the workbench shifted, a soft _bowg_ noise coming from them before a red light popped up from the stack. Roxanne flinched back instinctively when the papers exploded, fluttering to the ground as some kind of robot swooped into the air. 

She could tell now that the red light was some kind of an eye, attached to the rest of the robot's casing with a long, flexible rod. It was all glistening black metal, and glass encasing colorful tendrils of plasma, and long dangling limbs. It rushed towards them with a much louder series of _bowg_ noises. “What's this?” Roxanne questioned breathlessly as she took a quick step back, accidentally pressing into Megamind’s chest.

“A cyborg!” He answered gleefully, his hands coming down on her shoulders for a moment before he stepped away, walking in front of her as he greeted the robot. “I invented them.” He stated proudly as he held his hand out, letting the metal and glass creature take it in its pincers and examine it with childlike curiosity. “I'm sure you've seen a few running around.” He chuckled nonchalantly as he pulled his hand away before dragging it across the top of the robots glass case. “Aren't you a good little cyborg? Yes, you are.” Megamind spoke to the robot as though it was a child, lifting his other hand and to stroke the creature before it grabbed his hand and shook it up and down enthusiastically. 

“Cyborg. As in, they have living tissue?” Roxanne pressed, watching as he interacted with the creature. It was unnervingly dog-like in its mannerisms. It seemed almost excited. Did cyborgs have the capacity to feel emotions? 

“Yes,” Megamind answered excitedly, pulling his hand away from the cyborgs' glass casing as he continued, “I primarily sourced the genetic materials from Bryrse that were wounded or too old to survive on their own.” 

“What's a Bryrse?” She questioned, wincing at the way she butchered the foreign word.

“Oh! They're the equivalent of birds on my planet.” He explained with a smile as he glanced over at the cyborg as it continued to shake his arm as though it was trying to rip it from his socket. However, Megamind just gave the ornery creature a fond smile before glancing back over at her. “Though, they look nothing like your birds. I suppose they most closely resembled dragons for you.”

“Dragons…” Roxanne deadpanned, lifting a critical eyebrow as she waited for him to start laughing.

“Little feathered ones,” Megamind confirmed, nodding. Roxanne’s first thought was to ask him if they’d saved any of the animals from his home planet. She would kill to see a feathered dragon in the flesh. “The biggest Bryrse were the Evyt. They were about as big as a compact car.” He continued, and all thoughts of seeing one in the flesh died as her mind immediately conjured up images of his ancestors riding feathered dragons into battle. “Most of them you could hold in your hand.” He remarked fondly as the cyborg finally released his arm with a quiet _bowg_.

“What's the life expectancy of a cyborg?” Roxanne questioned curiously, her voice instantly garnering the creature’s attention as it’s glowing red eye quickly swiveled in her direction before it let out another soft _bowg_.

“We have no idea,” Megamind answered as the cyborg slowly approached her, gliding through the air silently. “This is the first one and he's still as good as the day I made him.” He continued, and Roxanne swallowed when the creature stopped in front of her, staring at her for an unnerving length of time. “He's fourteen.”

“Are there a lot of them running around?” She asked as the cyborg reached out towards her, taking her shoulders in its pincers before patting up and down her upper arms as though it was trying to figure out if she was real. 

“On this ship, there's approximately three hundred thousand.” He answered, and Roxanne nodded mutely at the sizeable number. He must have made the plans public domain, there was no way he could have made three hundred thousand cyborgs with his own two hands.

“What do they do?” She questioned as the cyborg removed its pincers from her arms, it’s eye moving closer as she lifted a tentative hand. As soon as she moved its eye swiveled to watch her. She drew in a breath as it moved closer, staring at her for a moment before it nuzzled into her palm, a content whirring noise escaping it. Roxanne smiled at the contact, scratching her fingers over the metal casing even though she seriously doubted that it could feel the sensation. 

“They're pets. Like companion dogs, but smart enough to babysit your children or remind grandma to take her medications,” Megamind answered as the cyborg pulled away from her hand, another _bowg_ escaping it as it floated higher.

“And you created them on your own?” Roxanne pressed, her eyes flicking back to meet his.

“I did.” He answered, a soft smile playing at the edges of his mouth. “The cyborgs themselves were primarily engineering, but then I had to create their operating platform. Bryrse are intelligent creatures, but a little coding gave them the same intellectual capabilities of a middle school child.” He explained softly as Roxanne felt the cyborgs pincers running through her hair as it let out another whirring sound. Megamind chuckled at the sight, and Roxanne silently prayed that it didn’t rip her hair out on accident. “They still contain their original personality, but they conform to the laws of robotics.”

She nodded at his words. Were his laws of robotics the same as humanities laws of robotics? The cyborg pulled her mind from the question when it released her hair, drifting back down to her side before wedging its way between her side and her arm. She laughed at the plea for affection, shaking her head as she reached out a hand and stroked it over the cyborgs' glass case, watching as the tendrils of plasma followed her touch. “I think he likes me,” Roxanne murmured, fixing her eyes on Megamind before she playfully asked, “Can I keep him?”

A roguish smirk filled his face at the question a moment before his suggestive voice broke the silence, “If you marry me I'll share him.” 

Roxanne blushed at the statement, swallowing thickly as she quickly averted her gave to the creature nuzzled against her side. Part of her wanted to throw a witty retort at him, something along the lines of ‘in your dreams’, but she knew better. She was finally beginning to realize how many things hinged on their marriage; like his people finally gaining a new home. Her decisions would directly affect the six and a half million people on this ship, and that didn’t even take into account the Americans it would affect. As much as she kept reminding herself that she did have a choice, she couldn’t help but wonder if she _really_ did.

 _Would it be such a bad thing?_ Some small voice asked before it was quickly rebutted. _Do you even hear yourself right now? Stockholm syndrome, Roxanne._ She shook her head at the conflicting emotions, drawing in a deep breath before she asked, “Does he have a name?”

“Ilryd,” Megamind answered, and the cyborg responded immediately. Pulling away from her and floating over to him as a series of excited _bowgs_ filled the air. He smiled at the creature, patting it diligently as he asked, “Would you like to see some other things? I just finished the first prototype watches and haven't started another big project yet but I have some ideas lying around.” Roxanne smiled at the question, silently resolving to push all of her worries about the whole arranged marriage thing aside for the day. She was on an alien spaceship learning about alien technology. It was quite literally a once in a lifetime experience and she didn’t want the memory tainted with her conflicted emotions. 

“I’d like to see everything you’re willing to show me.” She answered, earning a bright grin from him as he gestured her over. 

As soon as she got close to him he grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into one of the corners of the lab as he adjusted her so she was facing one of the masses of paper strung up from the ceiling. Her eyes drifted over the softly swaying pieces of paper as she realized that hung up as they were they all came together to create a set of complicated blueprints. 

“I think this is my next one,” Megamind offered softly as he pulled his hands away. Roxanne nodded at his words, taking a step closer to try and make sense of the alien words and complicated diagrams, but as soon as she moved the illusion was broken. She pursed her lips as stared up at the papers. She had to admit, it was a bit ingenious. You had to stand in exactly the right spot to be able to make sense of the blueprints, and she couldn’t help but wonder if this was how Megamind kept rivals from stealing his ideas.

“What is it?” She questioned as she stepped back into place, trying to make sense of the gears and cylinders scribbled across the papers.

“A type of desalination machine.” He answered simply, stepping around to stand in front of her before he continued. “Right now, it takes a lot of energy to remove salt from water. Your planet has seven times the salt concentration ours had, so we’re filtering water over and over again to get it down. It’s incredibly inefficient.” He explained, gesturing towards the blueprints behind him as he went on. 

“Other scientists have just mimicked human technology and created an evaporative process. But that takes a lot of heat, and it isn’t particularly efficient either. So, the science behind this is that salt is made out of sodium chloride, along with trace amounts of magnesium, calcium chloride, etcetera. Now, we don’t have to worry about the trace components, they’re negligible. So, sodium chloride. Chloride one of the primary components of chlorine, which you humans use to sanitize water. Sodium holds a positive charge, so, by using magnets and pushing a substantial negative charge through them we could, in theory, separate the sodium in stage one. And then, in stage two, go through a softer version of the magnetic charge, run a positive pulse, and reduce the chloride to safe levels.”

Roxanne nodded at his explanation even though he’d lost her a while ago. “If it works, it would be energy efficient, space efficient, potentially less dangerous than evaporation, and though it would still use a substantial amount of filters, it would be nothing compared to what we’re using now.”

Her eyes drifted down from the blueprints to meet his before she questioned, “Don't you ever feel like your talents would be lost on politics?” She’d only seen a few inventions, and she already felt like shoving him into politics wouldn’t be as worthwhile as simply letting him continue to work in his chosen field. Didn’t his people see that?

“All the time,” Megamind offered, stepping towards her as he continued, “I don't really care for my birthright,” the words were soft, a long sigh escaping him as he gave the floor a longing glance, “but it is my duty to manage this branch until I believe that my firstborn is capable of taking my position.” 

The next thing she knew, he was resting a hand between her shoulder blades as he led her to the other side of the room. “I was planning on retiring from the position early as long as I could. Returning to my real passion.” He explained quietly as he came to a stop, gently directing her to stand in a specific spot.

Roxanne didn’t need to be prompted to look up at the shifting papers that made up the idea cloud this time, her eyes lingering on the rough sketches of houses and some kind of shifting rail system. “It's a revised underwater foundation system for our overwater cities,” Megamind answered before she could even ask. “Our planet didn't have shifting plates like yours, or weather that was as volatile. This system would provide more structural integrity than our old one. It wouldn't fight the waves or the earthquakes, it would move with them.” 

Roxanne let out a soft humming sound as she stared up at the intricate designs for a moment longer. He’d shown her four things, and she already felt like she’d wasted the thirty years she’d had on this planet. How was she supposed to compare to any of this? Surely his people and his parents would be disappointed with her. With the fact that she wasn’t some kind of fucking genius. 

“You came up with all of this on your own?” She pressed, turning to look at him as he gave her a broad grin. 

“I thought you said you weren't easy to impress.” He replied smugly, and she rolled her eyes at the quip. When she’d said that she’d barely even known him. How was she supposed to know that he was brilliant?

“What was your first invention?” She pressed a moment later, hoping that he’d give up the attempt at teasing her if she could distract him enough.

Her plan seemed to work. Megamind’s eyes lit up as he quietly questioned, “You really want to know?” Roxanne couldn’t tell if he was toying with her, or if he was genuinely excited that someone was asking. Knowing his inflated ego, it was probably the former.

“Yes, I really want to know,” Roxanne answered with a chuckle, deciding to humor his ego for the moment. Besides, she really did want to know, and she doubted that sassing him about giving her a hard time would actually help her achieve that goal. 

“A ray gun.” He answered gleefully, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he added, “I was two.” Her eyes grew wide at the thought of a toddler wielding some sort of futuristic, doomsday death ray. “Do you want to see it?” He asked, his voice almost hesitant. 

Did she want to see a ray gun? Who in their right mind would say no to an offer like that? “Yes.” She breathed, nodding furiously and earning herself a bright peal of laughter. She followed a few steps behind him as he walked over to the massive shelving unit underneath the monitors, pulling one of the drawers open before offering her a small, blue pistol.

Roxanne took it in her hands and turned it around carefully, her fingers tracing over the makeshift weapon. “Does it still work?” She asked as she carefully wrapped her palm around the tiny grip before lifting it up and pointing it at the table in the center of the room.

“We should refrain from checking,” Megamind’s concerned voice answered immediately as he reached out and gently pushed her hand back down. She gave him a curious look before he continued, “It's very destructive. I blew out a wall of my childhood home.” 

Roxanne burst into laughter at the statement. She tried to imagine it, a blue toddler stumbling around in the wreckage of his home, laughing maniacally as his parents tried to catch him before he could do any more damage. She shook the image from her mind as she held the small pistol out for him to take. A lingering moment passed before she glanced over to find out why he hadn’t taken it back yet, only to find another soft smile gracing his lips as he stared at her in a way that was almost trance-like.

She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong, because that would definitely be easier than asking, _why are you looking at me like that_? But before she could get a single word out the cyborg was swooping down between them, a curious _bowg_ filling the air as it reached towards the gun.

“No!” Megamind shouted, scrambling for the pistol and grabbing it out of her hand before the cyborg could get a hold of it. He let out a long breath as he shot the creature a harsh glare, pointing at it with the gun before scolding, “I’m disappointed in you.”

Roxanne wasn’t sure if it actually understood English, or if it was just responding to his tone as the creature let out a soft whining noise floating towards the floor as it moved behind her, seemingly seeking her protection. 

Megamind scoffed and rolled his eyes when it peeked out from behind her, turning away to put the pistol back in the drawer when the cyborg drifted off to one of the corners of the lab before disappearing through a chute in the roof that reminded her of a doggy door. 

She glanced back over at Megamind when she heard the drawer close, watching as he righted himself, giving her a smug grin before he asked, “So, have I impressed you thoroughly?”

Roxanne let out a soft huff of laughter at the question, shaking her head as she glanced around the lab. “If by impressed you mean, made me feel like I could never measure up, then you have most certainly succeeded.” She answered softly, finally pulling her gaze back over to meet his only to find his face scrunched in confusion.

“Measure up?” He deadpanned, his hands fluttering in the air as he continued, “You're a reporter. We work in different fields.” Roxanne shrugged at his words, she didn’t really see why that mattered. His job changed the way people lived, and if money did exist in his culture, it would certainly make a hell of a lot more than she’d ever make as a news reporter. “Sure, you may never beat my engineering skills, but I'd make myself look like a fool if I had to do some of the interviews you did.” He added, and she snorted at the statement. Shaking her head as she opened her mouth to rebut his words.

“Having a _different_ skill set doesn't mean that you have a _lesser_ skill set.” He added, stepping closer and resting a hand on her shoulder before quietly finishing, “No job is more important than another.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Roxanne asked, offering a lame laugh before she added, “I feel like doctors are more important than janitors or farmers.”

“Do you think that doctors could save lives if they were always sick because of unsanitary conditions?” He questioned, pulling his hand away as he gestured wildly around the room. “Do you think there would be any lives to save if there was no food for anyone to eat?” Roxanne faltered at the question, thinking it over for a moment, but before she could formulate a response the bolts holding the lab door shut slid open.

They both turned as the door opened with a soft hiss, loud, metal footsteps echoing in the room a moment before a familiar, tentative voice broke the silence, “Sir?” 

Minyn stepped into the room a second later, his eyes focusing on one of the floating idea clouds before Megamind stepped towards him, “Minyn?”

The fish fluttered around in his bowl, a toothy grin filling his face as he stomped over, lifting a hand as he offered, “The tickets you requested.”

A bright grin grew on Megamind’s face as he quickly rushed over, yanking the two slips of paper from Minyn’s robotic hand before quickly rushing back over to her and grabbing her hand as he yanked her towards the door. “Come on, we have a museum to visit!”

****

**< ^^><^^><^^><^^><^^><^^>**

Roxanne stepped past the check-in stand with Megamind, her eyes scanning the massive room and the bright, holographic banners showing strings of alien words that hung above arched doorways. If it wasn't for his grip on her hand anchoring her in place, she would have already drifted towards the banner showing off a twinkling night sky.

It wasn't until Megamind nudged her arm gently that she finally drew her attention back over to him. He held a simple pair of black rimmed glasses out towards her, and she reached for them tentatively as he offered, "These will provide visual translation." 

She was skeptical as she flicked them open before sliding them on. Blinking in the light as she glanced at the signs again, mildly surprised to find that he'd been right. Every single alien word was sitting before her in plain English. She quickly looked around at the labels adorning the doorways; art, STEM, history, astrology and meteorology, life on other planets, folklore, flora and fauna, media, lineage.

Before she had a chance to finish reading the rest of the doorways, his fingers were twining with hers as he pulled her to the doorway labeled STEM. “So this is your whole culture shoved into one floor,” Roxanne remarked, yearning to tug him away from the door labeled STEM and towards the door labeled art. 

“It is.” He answered, his voice bright. “Though today we're really only here for the STEM branch.”

Roxanne pursed her lips at the simple statement, sullen at the thought of not being able to explore the rest of the place. Was the STEM branch really that important? He was probably just going to show her some of his inventions that the museum pulled for exhibits. “We'll come back though?" She questioned as he pulled her through the doorway and into the room behind it. "For the other stuff?”

“You're interested in the other stuff?” she barely even registered Megamind's voice, let alone the surprise tainting his words as she stared at the room around her in awe. Bright signs hung up at four separate doorways, each one labeled respectively; science, technology, engineering, math. 

And even that was dwarfed by the massive sculpture in the middle of the room, a mixture of a DNA helix that looked mildly reminiscent of a humans, a massive space shuttle with smooth rounded corners, some kind of futuristic engine exploded so that the parts making it up here on clear display, and sprawling lines of something that looked like calculus holding the whole thing together. It was gorgeous and complex, and she could hardly wrap her mind around it.

It wasn't until he repeated her name that she remembered the question he'd asked. She quickly nodded as she pulled her eyes back to meet his. “The history branch. The art branch. The folklore branch.” _Every single branch this place has_ , she added in her mind.

“I didn't realize you were so keen to immerse yourself,” Megamind replied, his voice soft as a smile quickly grew on his face. “Yes, we can come back.” He offered, his hand slipping from hers before he placed it between her shoulder blades on her back. "So, which section do you want to see?"

Roxanne blinked in surprise at the question. She'd expected him to drag her along like he had been for the last ten minutes. She quickly glanced over the four signs once again. Math was definitely a no go. She could do without that. But the three other choices were much harder.

Technology. She doubted it would be a crash course on what alien technology they had, and rather the coding behind their tech. She could do without that too.

So, that left engineering and science. Megamind was more of an engineer than anything else, so picking that door would probably show her the most of his work. But the science portion seemed pretty enthralling. What if there was some biology in there? What if there were pictures and videos of feathered dragons?

She started towards the doorway labeled science without further debate, earning a soft chuckle from Megamind as he followed a few steps behind her. The moment she stepped inside she found herself in another domed room showcasing exhibits lining the walls, more branching hallways leading to God only knew what, a holographic display in the center of the room that changed every minute or so. 

Her eyes drifted over a chemistry station, watching as some kids on what was probably a field trip mixed two test tubes into a beaker, the solution growing bright violet and bubbling furiously. Another exhibit showcased some sort of puzzle that another small group of children were working to put together, it looked almost like they were connecting synapses or something. 

Roxanne flinched slightly when the hologram in the center of the room flickered from a cut apart diagram of a planet she didn’t recognize to some kind of scaly hulking beast that looked like the love child between a xenomorph and grizzly bear.

“What is that?” She breathed, staring up at the fangs and the claws in shock. It was like a nightmare come to life before her eyes.

“An Endoth," Megamind answered simply, staring up at the hulking beast for a long moment before a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Funny story, one almost ate me when I was a child.”

Roxanne faltered at the cheerful words, slowly glancing between him and the hologram before blatantly asking, “And you’re still alive, how exactly?”

He chuckled at the question, his smile growing as he shook his head. He stared at the hologram a moment longer before he answered, “My mother was nearby and she ripped it apart with her bare hands.” 

“What?” The shock in her voice was palatable, and she took a small step back as she quickly glanced between Megamind and the hologram.

“I told you, Aveus’s evolved to provide protection from predators."

“But that…” Roxanne trailed off, staring up at the hulking, scaly nightmare monster that looked like it could rip either of them apart with ease. “Could you rip that thing apart with your bare hands?” She questioned, looking over at Megamind as she sized him up.

It was hard to consider someone who looked so human to be a predator, but he kind of was, wasn't he? She'd written off his teeth the first time she noticed them, but given the fact that he only seemed to have incisors and canines, he had to be primarily carnivorous. He was definitely stronger than he appeared to be if he could rival the holographic monster standing in the middle of the room. And he had claimed just this morning that he was faster than the rest of the Amerdea population. 

“I’d really rather not," Megamind answered after a long moment. Staring up at the hologram with a calculating look. “But I suppose… if I was motivated enough I probably could…” He added, tilting his head slightly as he looked at the image critically before it flickered away to show the structure of an atom. It wasn't until Megamind looked over at her that he offered, “My mother is a _particularly_ fierce woman.”

Roxanne nodded mutely at the statement, turning away from the hologram as she tried to ignore the fact that she was going to meet his mother tomorrow. His mother. The woman who ripped a ten-foot monster apart with her _bare hands_.

She shuddered at the thought as she turned away from the hologram, doing her best to focus on the exhibits lining the walls as she started towards one that showcased the life cycle of a star. 

She did her best to lose herself in exhibit after exhibit, learning little tidbits of information about the science behind wormhole portals, to the effects black holes had on their surroundings, to the use of dark matter as a renewable energy source. 

Really though, the museum amazed her. Every exhibit was interactive and adaptive. It was light-years above anything America had, and according to Megamind, this was shoddy work. Something they threw together in a rush as they fled their native planet.

She wasn't sure how long they spent wandering around the museum, but she stopped at most of the unoccupied exhibits before they were finally dumped out into another domed room that led to a single doorway labeled _Hall of Geniuses_.

“Really?” Roxanne questioned, lifting an eyebrow as she gave Megamind a pointed look. “You guys idolize really smart scientists?”

He shrugged at the question, playing it off before offering, “Your museums have sections dedicated to Newton, Tesla, Darwin, and the other great minds don't they?” 

Roxanne pursed her lips into a thin line at the statement, but nodded nonetheless. He wasn't wrong, but they normally didn't have their own branches. They usually got a few paragraph blurb about their lives slapped next to their most famous accomplishment. 

But then again, while her country seemed to worship beauty and TV personalities, his people seemed far more interested in intellect and technological advancement. It made a lot more sense when she looked at it from his perspective.

She stepped into the wide hallway as she looked down the seemingly endless line of exhibits showcasing individuals who made vast contributions to his society. She learned about Leropei Auris Latarum, the man who first began the science of medicine, saving more than a thousand lives on his own before passing down his doctrine that gave birth to modern medicine. There was Elata Auris Cerau, a woman who learned how to harness the power of the sun, wind, and waves to create electricity to replace fat-burning candles and kelp powered hearths. One of her favorites was Navidna Neifis Aetas, a young blind girl who developed an advanced form of calculus known only to his people that opened the door for future scientists to figure out how to create portals to different sectors of the galaxy.

She passed exhibit after exhibit, reading about the men and women who invented computers, vaccines, stem cell therapy, new forms of mathematics, modern electric engines, and so many more technologies that her people had yet to discover. The hallway was such an overload that she didn’t even notice what she was stepping past before the blazing, neon green eyes pulled her back to the screen lazily flicking from photo to photo. 

Her eyes slowly took in the smug smirk, the high cheekbones, the bright green eyes and the flecks of gold in them, the distinct lack of a goatee that made the subject look at least a decade younger. She glanced between Megamind and the picture of him twice before breathing out a quiet, disbelieving, “You're fucking me.”

He had an exhibit. His _own_ exhibit. In the hall of fucking _geniuses_. And judging by the picture of him, he was practically a decade younger when he’d gotten in. She took a deep breath as her eyes flicked up to the small screen at the top of his exhibit spelling out his name. _This was fine. Totally fine. She was only engaged to a hot, genius, alien prince. Obviously she was fine. Totally in her element._

“I could be, if you asked,” Megamind all but purred, his voice dipping down into a sultry tone that made goosebumps prick her skin and sent a shiver of electricity down her spine. _Oh God. She was so out of her element._

She pulled her eyes back to meet his before quietly muttering, “You have an exhibit in the hall of geniuses.”

He let out a soft chuckle at the statement, his smirk growing as he leaned against the wall next to his exhibit, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking an eyebrow as he playfully questioned, “Megamind suddenly seems a little humble, doesn't it?” 

Roxanne snorted at his quip, rolling her eyes and shaking her head as she turned her attention back to the exhibit. Pressing the button on the panel before it to start the mini-film that accompanied each exhibit. His name faded from the top of the exhibit as a soothing alien voice began speaking, the English translation popping up in the place where his name once took up residence.

_Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, first of his name, and the sole heir to the Urvai bloodline and the Cerau branch; was both the first Aevus to ever earn a spot in the hall of geniuses, as well as the youngest person to ever achieve the accomplishment, earning his place at the age of four. Without his inventions, modern life as we know it would cease to exist. _The screen read as a few images of him flicked lazily across the exhibit, her favorite being one of him as a child at what appeared to be a science fair. He’d won second place, and she could tell by the slump of his shoulders and the way he narrowed his eyes at the piece of paper in his hands that he was nothing short of outraged. It was absolutely adorable.__

_One of his most notable inventions was dehydrated stasis, which he created when he was only three years old. It revolutionized the way we trade with the other branches. Shipping nearly one hundred times the amount of supplies on one carrier than we could before his birth._

_Other equally notable inventions of his were chemical restoration tablets, able to leech harmful pollutants out of three thousand gallons of water. The air defense system, capable of transporting dangerous projectiles to a different quadrant of the solar system. The Bryrse cyborgs, which quickly became a hallmark in child and senior care as companions and helpers. And the invisibility polymer coating, that with an electrical charge, could make anything simply appear to not exist. He has seventy-three patents to his name, most of which have shaped the world we now know._

Roxanne stared at the short video clips of each of the inventions listed in awe. He hadn’t even told her about most of this stuff, but here she was watching pitch black water turn crystal clear in a second, watching a portal open up in front of a planet as a comet went sailing through it before it sealed back up, watching a massive cargo ship seemingly disappear in the blink of an eye. It was all nothing short of absolutely awe-inspiring. 

Megamind righted himself in one smooth motion, resting a hand between her shoulder blades as he offered a quiet, “If you want to head out now we could check out another one of those branches you wanted to see.”

The offer was tempting, but she’d learned more about him in the last minute and a half than she normally did over the course of a few hours. What else wasn’t he telling her that the short, informational mini-film would? “I want to finish this,” Roxanne replied, watching the screen with rapt attention as a small herd of cyborgs drifted across it.

“The good parts over, I insist,” Megamind pressed, his voice growing more leading as his hand drifted down to her arm, wrapping around her as he began to gently pull her away.

“Shhh.” She scolded, prying his hand away as she shot him a harsh glare as the alien voice started speaking again. She quickly turned her attention back to the words spilling out across the screen.

 _However, the slowly changing opinions regarding Aveus's were quickly soured once again when he was convicted of murder at the age of twelve._ Roxanne sucked in a sharp breath at the words, glancing over at Megamind to find the lines of his body tense, his mouth pressed into a harsh line as he glowered at the screen, his hands balled into fists. He must have felt her looking at him, because his eyes flicked over to meet hers a half-second before they flicked down to the ground. She swallowed thickly as she forced herself to pry her gaze back to the screen. _During his first trial, he was labeled as a threat to society and was sentenced to be put down._

“Put down?” Roxanne breathed, her eyebrows knitting together as she stared at the screen as she re-read the words, making sure she hadn’t gotten them wrong the first time.

Megamind swallowed thickly at the question, his quiet voice answering a moment later, “You humans call it the death sentence.”

Roxanne swallowed at the answer, silently wondering how he was still alive, how he was standing next to her right now, why he'd killed someone in the first place. _However, before his sentence could be served a witness came forth and provided a testimony that changed the classification of the crime to voluntary manslaughter, therefore changing the verdict of the original trial. The sentence was reduced to fifteen years of house arrest pending psychologist clearance._

_Because of the sentence, he was pulled from the public eye, only recently having re-joined society after being released from the sentence eighty-six days early to aid in the engineering and construction of the Exodus spacecrafts. Now that he's finally a part of society again, many scientists and engineers are looking forward to the possibility of collaborating with him in the future._

The video ended as soon as the voice faded, leaving Roxanne to stand before the exhibit as she stared up at it in stunned silence. It all made so much sense now. What Minyn meant when he’d said that Megamind hadn’t been a part of society in a while. Why some people looked at him like they wanted him dead. Why everyone stared when he walked by. Why a news outlet called him violent. Why he got so angry when she blatantly asked him if she was safe with him the other day.

“You were trying to hide this from me…” Roxanne breathed, shaking her head as she pulled her gaze over to the man standing beside her. “Why?” She pressed as soon as he looked up. Was he scared of what she thought of him now? Was he scared that she would be scared of him now? Was she scared of him now? She shook the question away. Of course she wasn’t scared of him, she’d spent plenty of time alone with him and he’d never overstepped his bounds or made her uncomfortable… well, apart from the initial kidnapping, of course.

He struggled for an answer for a moment. His mouth opening and closing a few times before his voice finally broke the silence, “Because I'm ashamed of it.” The words were low and feral, practically a growl. It sent goosebumps racing across her skin, for an entirely different reason than the ones she’d felt earlier. “It's quite literally the _lowest_ point in my life.” 

Roxanne swallowed at the answer, tense quiet lingering between them before she drew in a shaky breath and spoke up. “I'd like to know what happened.” Why did he kill someone? A schoolyard fight gone wrong? A case of self-defense? Maybe an act of vigilante justice? She couldn’t find it in herself to believe that he meant for it happen. He wouldn’t plan out someone’s death… would he?

Megamind let out a long sigh at the request, his shoulders slumping as he lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut as a long string of rushed, alien words escaped his mouth. It wasn’t until he turned away and let his hand fall back to his side that his low, quiet voice finally answered; “Very well then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.
> 
>  
> 
> Please don't kill me.


	6. Day Two - Part Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient while I worked on this chapter! I know I left everyone on a cliffhanger! And thank you to everyone who left me a comment! I always love hearing from you!
> 
> There's a question about the future of the story in the endnotes, I'd appreciate it if you gave me your two cents on it! Though participation is entirely up to you :)
> 
> This chapter is the longest one so far (14.3K words), and it's been the most difficult to write for several reasons. One of which is just the theme and tone of this chapter, and the other is the angst. I'm sorry. 
> 
> In this chapter though there are a few **WARNINGS!** The first half contains mentions and depictions of attempted rape/non-con, and mentions and depictions of a near-death experience involving a child/teenager. Please, if you think either of these might be a problem for you, either skip down past the first and only row of scene breaks depicted by six **< ^^>** symbols and just read the second half, or you can skip the chapter as a whole, whichever is better for you personally.
> 
> If those warnings don't affect you, feel free to read as you normally would. It's a rough chapter, but I think the ending of it makes up for the pain in the beginning.

Roxanne looked around the massive library as Megamind led her between the corridors of books. Apparently, while the museum only took up one floor, the library had three dedicated to it. She felt like she was walking through the library of congress or something. Thick, leather-bound volumes lined the shelves, computers were tucked away in corners for research, and stands of what she assumed were digital e-readers stood on display for check-out. 

Unfortunately, she didn’t have long to marvel before Megamind was pulling her through a door laid into the wall at her left. The room he’d dragged her into was empty. A small square devoid of any color. Pure white panels lined the floor, the roof, the walls; and the soft white light filtering into the room seemed to emanate from them. The door shut behind her with a soft click, and she whirled around as she watched Megamind slide a deadbolt into place before pressing a hand against one of the panels.

It darkened immediately, crisp white alien letters sprawling across it as he quickly typed something in on a massive, elaborate looking digital keyboard. She watched in silence as he kept typing commands into the interface, watching as the panel responded seamlessly. She must have waited a minute or two before a loading bar finally popped up across the panel, the small English words, _Translating Audio Logs into Language Option 82 (English)_ , underlining the status bar that was slowly beginning to fill.

“What are we doing here?”

He turned at the question, his fingers tapping almost nervously against his thigh before his dark, almost tired voice responded, “You wanted answers, so I’m giving you source material.”

She swallowed at his words. Was that supposed to be a threat? She shook the thought away as quickly as it occurred. Of course it wasn’t meant to be a threat. He was too smart to drag a person to a busy place like the library if he was going to do anything like that. Besides, he’d told her just the other day that hurting her would likely cause a war. He’d never hurt her before, and it wasn’t like he had a reason to hurt her now; even if he did, she doubted he would. She trusted him.

The realization hit her like a freight train. _She trusted him._ Before she had a chance to dwell on it for long, an alien voice filled the room and Megamind turned back to the panel. He tapped it once before the room began to dim, tucking himself away in the far corner as their surroundings fell into absolute darkness. 

A half-second passed before bright, white letters hovered in the middle of the room. The words _Evidence Log 01_ , standing before her as she tried not to nerd out at the realization that she was standing in a hologram simulator. A moment later the words faded, the room changing around her as she did her best to hold in a stifled gasp.

She was standing on some kind of boardwalk on what had to be his home planet. The sky was a soft blue and hazy soft pink stripes that she could only assume were clouds hung in the air. She could see a dark brown planet off in the distance, a grey moon circling it. What she assumed was his planets moon hung heavy in the sky; a mint green sphere surrounded by a turquoise ring. 

She could hear waves lapping in the distance, she could feel a soft breeze ruffling her hair, and she practically swore that she could taste sea brine in the air.

The buildings on either side of her were built out of light grey wood, golden dried reeds, and bright blue and green stained glass. The boardwalk under her feet was plastered with a bright assortment of glistening seashells. She was standing in what she assumed was an alleyway of some sort. There was no foot traffic, and the sharp corner standing before her kept her from getting a great feel for her surroundings. 

A woman stepped out of one of the two doors to her right, shouting a quick, “See you tomorrow!” through the door before closing it behind herself. She drew in a long breath as she tilted her head back, smiling up at the sky as she visibly relaxed. She only stood there for a moment before she shifted a bag slung over her shoulder and started towards the sharp corner a few feet away.

She was just about to round the bend when a man stepped out from it, she backtracked as soon as he stepped into view. “Ari, fancy meeting you here.” She sighed at his words, her shoulders falling as she shot him a harsh glare.

“My _name_ is Aennier, Enrom.” She bit back, her voice harsh. “And perhaps if you didn’t _stalk_ me so much we wouldn’t _randomly_ run into each other!” She added, and Roxanne could practically feel the anger rolling off of the hologram. “I don’t have time to be kidnapped for the twentieth time right now, so back the fuck off.” She snarled, lifting a hand and jabbing the man in the chest roughly before she added a rough, “I am _never_ going to say yes to _you_.”

The man's eyes narrowed as his hand shot up to wrap around her forearm and pull her closer as she let out a surprised noise of distaste. “I’m getting _very_ tired of you assuming that you have a choice here.” He growled, his voice dark as the woman’s eyes grew wide. “You are _mine_ , and I am tired of waiting for _you_ to finally realize that.” He added as the woman tried to pull away from his grip unsuccessfully. 

“Let go of me.” She demanded, her voice dark, she looked the part of a raging storm just waiting to erupt. Roxanne could tell what was really going on though, it was obvious in the tense set of her shoulders, in the way her eyes flicked wildly between the man standing in front of her and her chance at freedom lying just behind him. She was terrified.

The man pulled her closer at her demand, leaning in as he whispered something in her ear a half-second before she struggled against his hold on her a bit more frantically. Roxanne tried to swallow down the sick feeling curdling in her gut when his lips drifted lower. “Get off of me!” The woman hissed, her voice shaking as she tried to push him away unsuccessfully.

Roxanne covered her mouth with a hand as she watched the man pull her closer, his hands roughly roaming over her body even as she tried to push him away. God, she felt sick. This was what she was always worried about when she was alone with Hal, she was just lucky that he wasn’t bold enough to go trying something like this. Or that at least he hadn’t been bold enough _yet_. 

"No!" The woman shouted, her voice ringing against the walls of the buildings around them as she attempted to claw at him. He caught her blow in time, pressing her back against a wall as her shouts filled the quiet once more, “I said no!”

Roxanne looked away when one of his hands went for the zipper at the collar of her jumpsuit. She couldn’t watch this. The now broken sobs of _no_ , _stop_ , and _please_ made her want to press her hands against her ears in an attempt to block out the sound. 

She couldn’t bring herself to look back up at the scene playing out before her until she heard a door swing open. She pulled her gaze back up to the hologram, her eyes meeting a wide, concerned pair of bright green ones. For a moment, she felt like the hologram of what was clearly a much younger Megamind was staring right at her; but a second later another broken sob of _no_ pulled his attention in the other direction. 

His body went rigid in an instant, the line of his shoulders drawing tight under his jumpsuit. He stalked towards the scene playing out before him with long, determined strides. The second he was close enough one of his hands darted out, grabbing the man by the back of his shirt and roughly ripping him away.

Everything happened so quickly that Roxanne could hardly follow it. The man assaulting the woman went flying through the air in a blur of blue and white, the large stained glass window standing proudly by the side of the door that the woman had emerged from a few minutes ago exploded in a shower of sound and color, some of the wood casing it shattering on impact. There was a rough crunching sound, too deep for her to write it off as glass being crushed into the floor. 

One second everything was mayhem, the next, everything was quiet and calm. Megamind turned to look at the destruction he'd caused, the snarl that was etched into his face fading as something that almost looked like concern or worry flashed in his eyes. For a moment, she thought that he was going to start towards the destruction he caused, but before he could take the first step another broken sob pulled his attention back to the woman who'd pressed herself back into the corner and slipped to sit down on the ground where she could curl in on herself.

Roxanne watched as Megamind crouched down next to the woman, she could see his mouth move, but whatever he said was too soft for her to pick up. His words seemed to have the effect he intended, because she looked up as he spoke. Swallowing before sniffling loudly as she stared at him with wide, watery amber eyes. 

He lifted a hand out a second later, and she eyed it almost warily for a moment before her gaze flicked up to meet his. “It’s alright,” Megamind spoke softly, and a few lingering seconds later she slipped her hand into his. As he stood up, pulling her to her feet with him, Roxanne watched as someone flung the backdoor she’d walked out of open; their eyes were wide with worry, and they quickly glanced between the pair standing in the corner and the destroyed window and crumpled body in shock.

Oh God. Roxanne had been so caught up in seeing how everything played out with Megamind that she’d almost forgotten about the body, but now that she was looking… The man who’d been assaulting the woman should have gotten up by now, but one of his arms was bent at an awkward angle, and there were so many sharp, glittering shards of glass littering the floor, and she could almost swear that there was a hint of bright red beginning to stain his white jumpsuit.

The person who stepped outside tried to jostle the clearly injured assaulter to consciousness, but after a few seconds of failed attempts, they quickly darted back inside. Roxanne’s eyes quickly flitted back to Megamind and the woman just in time to watch as she threw her arms around him, grasping him so tightly that she pulled the fabric of his jumpsuit taunt under her fingertips. Roxanne could hear her relieved sobs of thank you, filling the air as she clutched herself to him like he was a life raft stopping her from drowning in a storm.

Megamind looked shocked at the sudden contact, his eyes wide as he held his arms aloof for a moment. She watched as he processed what was happening, blinking owlishly as he carefully rested his hands on her back, like he was worried that she would shatter under his touch. 

The moment only lasted a moment before people came flooding out of the door beside the broken window. The person who had first seen what happened, two people who were probably doctors of some kind judging by the way they immediately went for the assaulter, and six people who went straight for Megamind and the woman clutching herself to him as though her life depended on it. 

Megamind was forcibly separated from the woman a few moments later, a few men pulling her away even as she cursed at them and tried to beat them away. It was chaos. The yelling, the struggling, the doctors speaking to each other in a rush as they searched the assaulter for a pulse. 

The woman didn’t calm down until another woman approached her, shooing the men away with a harsh scolding as the doctors removed a massive shard of broken glass from the assailant's chest. Roxanne wasn’t a medical expert by any means, but she knew that a lack of blood flow from a major injury spelled death; either a lack of a heartbeat or too much blood loss, and judging by the puddle of red staining the ground, she had a feeling it was the latter. 

Everything was so happening so quickly and her attention was drawn in so many directions that she only picked up on snippets of the various conversations going on.

“ _-heard a crash and then I came out here to find-_ ”

“ _-wouldn’t take no for an answer-_ ”

“ _-clearly needed help and there was no one else around-_ ”

“ _-time of death fourteen oh eight-_ ”

“ _-would have raped me if-_ ”

“ _-didn’t even realize until the damage was done-_ ”

“ _-get a morgue tech out here-_ ”

“ _-was always pressing his luck even in public places-_ ”

“ _-must have been the adrenaline-_ ”

Somewhere throughout the conversations, a decision was made. The woman was led away by someone with a soothing voice telling her she was going to be escorted home. The witness was pulled back into the building that he’d come running out of initially. A gurney was rolled up and the assailant's body was zipped into a black bag. A thick, black pair of zip-tie handcuffs came out.

Megamind was tackled against the adjacent wall mid-sentence, two men shoving roughly at him as his distressed voice filled the air, “What do you think you’re doing?”

His hands were forced through the loops of the cuffs as a rough voice answered, “You’re being placed under arrest for the death of Enrom Auris Cerau.”

“I’m not the bad guy here!” Megamind defended as the cuffs were pulled tight enough to make him wince. He was pulled from the wall roughly, one man taking each of his arms as they led him towards Roxanne.

“We’re not here to judge you kid, we’re just here to bring you in.” One of the men sighed as the hologram walked into her. She turned as she watched them lead him down the walkway before they rounded the corner of a building and disappeared out of sight. 

A few seconds of silence passed before the hologram began to fade, plunging the room into pitch darkness before the bright white words, _Trial Log 01_ , lit up the darkness. In the light she could see Megamind pressed into the corner, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes reflected the light from the words. The words faded after a few seconds, darkness spreading for a moment before a new hologram took up residence in the room. 

She was suddenly standing in the middle of a sterile, white room. Five older men sitting at a massive, curved table before her. She turned in a slow circle as she took in the room; it was a curved half circle, the walls were bare, there was a waist-high wall with a gate in the middle of it separating the main portion of the floor from rows of padded benches. There were only four people sitting behind the half-wall, a couple with wet eyes and hunched shoulders and another couple with an anxious set to the lines of their bodies.

Roxanne swallowed thickly as she continued her slow turn, her eyes lingering on three flags standing proudly next to the wall. Before she had a chance to try and make sense of the images depicted on them, her attention was being drawn to the person standing beside her in the middle of the floor. 

Megamind was still wearing the thick cuffs around his wrists, but it was obvious that he’d been released for at least a few moments at some point so that they could cuff his hands in front of his body. He was several inches shorter than her, and looking at him from this close up she could tell that he wasn’t the adult he was now. He stared up at the panel of men sitting at the curved table, his mouth pressed into a thin line.

“Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, you stand accused of murder. How do you plead?” The man sitting in the middle of the table spoke up, his voice unnervingly neutral as he stared down at Megamind with a harsh expression etched into his face.

“Is that is a trick question?” Megamind’s voice filled the air. Roxanne took a few steps back so she could better watch the scene unfolding before her as he added a frustrated, “I shouldn't even be on trial!” 

“You _killed_ a man. We have video footage.” The judge, as Roxanne decided to call him, spoke up from the table, leveling Megamind with a harsh glower.

“You also have video footage of him trying to _rape_ someone!” Megamind defended, his voice growing louder as he gave the judge an exasperated look, shaking his head as he continued, “I stepped in and stopped a crime! And _I'm_ the one being punished?”

“If the victim came forward and testified then we could possibly reduce the classification of the crime, but as she cannot be loacted, we cannot assume that the deceased’s actions were unwanted.” The judge answered, his tone condescending in a way that made Roxanne want to put him back in his place.

“She was screaming no!” Megamind retorted, a dry, humorless half-chuckle escaping him as he shook his head, gesturing wildly with his cuffed hands as he continued; “I'm not sure how much more _clearly unwanted_ you need things to be!” 

Something about Megamind’s outburst triggered the judge to have one of his own. He stood up swiftly, his face twisted in rage as he glared down at Megamind. “Silence!” His voice echoed through the room.

Megamind fell silent for a second, more so out of shock than obedience. As soon as the words seemed to sink in Roxanne watched fury flash in his eyes, his jaw ticking as he started towards the curved table with long strides as his low, dangerous voice filled the quiet, “How dare you silence me.” The words trailed off into a low growl. A _literal_ growl. One that seemed to reverberate against the walls. It was dark, and inhuman, and it made goosebumps prick up on the back of Roxanne’s neck and sent an icy chill scampering down her spine.

It seemed to have a similar effect on the judge and a member or two of his panel. She watched him slip back into his chair as Megamind stepped up the few stairs leading to the table, pulling his wrists apart with an unnerving amount of ease as a loud cracking sound filled the air as the cuffs snapped. The thick, broken circles of plastic fell onto the floor and tumbled down the stairs with a soft clattering noise as he continued darkly, “I will not stand here and allow you to try and make a criminal out of me.”

It wasn’t until he was pressing a hand against the top of the curved table, towering over the judge who stared up at him with wide, startled eyes that a harsh, feminine voice rang through the air, “Mehkean!” Megamind righted himself at the call of his name, pulling his hand from the tabletop as he continued to stare down at the judge with an icy, unwavering glare. 

Roxanne glanced over her shoulder to watch as a woman who she quickly pegged as Megamind’s mother let a lingering gaze sweep over the scene before her. She must have stood up when she’d shouted at him, and she glanced over at the man who was probably Megamind’s father before swallowing thickly, and stiffly sitting back down.

“How do you plead?” A strange voice questioned, and Roxanne glanced back over to watch as a man sitting directly to the judge’s left pulled Megamind’s attention over to him.

Megamind’s expression softened as soon as he looked away from the judge, his eyes sweeping over the new speaker as he firmly answered, “Not guilty.”

“We have video proof, and you stand there and try to lie to our faces.” The judge accused, clearly having regained the ability to speak now that he wasn’t under Megamind’s scrutiny. 

“I'm not trying to lie to your faces! I shouldn't be on trial!” Megamind snapped, immediately turning a harsh glare back on the judge as the grown man shrank back into his seat slightly. Roxanne watched as Megamind’s eyes tracked the slight movement, letting out a long sigh as his shoulders fell and his posture softened. Lifting a hand to rub it over his face as he softly explained, “He was trying to rape her, and it was never my intention to kill him.” 

His hand fell limply back to his side, his eyes slowly drifting over the judge and his panel before lingering on the man who’d asked him how he pleaded. “I just… I was angry, alright, and I didn't realize how hard I threw him until it was too late.” The words were tired, quiet, and Roxanne was fairly certain that the witnesses sitting on the other side of the half-wall weren’t able to hear anything. 

“Of course you say that now.” The judge muttered darkly, but before Megamind had a chance to retort, the panel member sitting beside him was speaking up.

“I think he's telling the truth.” The words rang in the room for the moment, and Roxanne watched as the judge gave him an icy glare at the statement. Thankfully though, the man seemed entirely unperturbed, lifting a hand as he gestured to Megamind. “He's young. Growing. Going through the throes of puberty.” The man's hand fell back against the table as he continued, “It's natural for young boys to misjudge their own strength, especially if they’re making the transition from child to Aevus.”

“And it’s dangerous to have an Aevus running around that has a taste for blood.” The judge countered, glancing around the table at his panel as he went on, “Not only has he shown that he has the ability _and_ the will to kill, but he also has a temper and isn’t above using his natural gifts to threaten those weaker than him.” Roxanne was thankful to see that at least two of the panel members seemed entirely unmoved by his rant, but the other two seemed to be willing to agree. “Do you have anything else to say for yourself?” The judge questioned, turning his attention back to Megamind. 

“I don’t understand why I’m being tried for murder. Murder is a premeditated act.” He stated, shaking his head as he stared down at the judge. “This was random, and it was _an accident_. If you’re going to charge me for anything it should be manslaughter.” He explained, and two of the panel members nodded along to his statement. 

“We have no proof that it _wasn’t_ premeditated.” The judge countered, and Megamind narrowed his eyes at the man as he leaned in over the table slightly. 

“And you have no motive to pin on me.”

“On the contrary. I _do_ have a motive.” The judge replied, staring Megamind down as he explained, "You saw what he was trying to do and realized how easy it would be to take his place. Get rid of the competition and take the spoils for yourself." 

"I would _never_ do that to someone,” Megamind growled, the lines of his body drawing taunt at the accusation. “And I would need more than three seconds to actually come up with your so-called motive.” He added, his voice dark as he glared down at the judge, his eyes blazing with anger. “Do you really believe that I'm stupid enough to bind myself to someone who doesn't want me?" 

The question puzzled Roxanne for a hot second, until she remembered something he’d told her the other day. His species mates for life, and from the sound of the debate going on in front of her, she could only assume that they bonded to their partner for good when they finally had sex with each other. She swallowed at the implication. Did that mean that everyone who wasn’t married was a virgin? 

Before she had a chance to consider the question the judge’s condescending tone was filling the air, "You’re growing. Going through the throes of puberty. Hormones are a very strong thing to ignore." Megamind opened his mouth, undoubtedly to rebut the lame twist on the panel members words. "Will there be anything else, Mehkean?" The judge spoke up before Megamind could get a word out, letting him flounder for a moment before he settled on simply giving the older man another icy glare.

"My innocence is obvious, if you can’t see that you’re either blind or stupid,” Megamind replied, and the judge stared up at him through narrowed eyes as a muscle in his jaw ticked angrily.

"We'll take council until we all come to our verdicts." The judge bit out, standing up and glaring at Megamind as he addressed the room, "You're dismissed until further notice." 

Megamind’s lip curled into the beginnings of a snarl at the dismissal, but he turned away and stalked back down the stairs without any further argument. Roxanne watched as he made his way towards the half-wall. The weepy-eyed couple was already halfway to the door, and Megamind’s parents stood in the middle of the walkway waiting for him.

As soon as he pushed past the gate his father wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leading him towards the exit as his mother stepped out onto the floor. The cape she wore hanging off one shoulder billowed out behind her with every step she took, and Roxanne swallowed thickly as she stalked up the stairs leading to the table with a look of barely restrained fury pulling at her features.

It wasn’t until she stopped before the judge that he sank back down into his chair, his gaze flicking around the room as though he was scared to look her in the eyes. “I want you to listen very closely Tyriad.” She began, her voice low and so quiet that Roxanne had a hard time making out the words. “I know what this is about. This is because I denied your proposal twenty years ago.” She accused, and the judge’s eyes immediately flicked over to meet hers at the accusation. “You know that my son did nothing wrong, and you know that you’re trying an innocent child as though he was an adult for a crime that he didn’t commit.”

Roxanne had to admit, she was equally impressed and terrified at the way she managed to intimidate the judge into silence so easily. “He was being a good samaritan, and _this_ is how you repay him?” She growled, resting both of her hands on the tabletop as she leaned in slightly. “You may have his life in your hands for the moment, but I swear to you…” she trailed off, leaning in even closer until her lips were practically brushing his ear, “If you have my child killed, I will make it my personal mission to make your life miserable. Every single day that you draw breath you will regret it, until it finally gets to be too much and you end your miserable, pathetic waste of a life because you can’t handle the wrath you’re about to incur.” 

She pulled away as soon as the words died, righting herself as she let a lingering gaze slowly travel across everyone sitting at the table. “Think wisely on your decisions. I assure you, any sins you commit will be repaid tenfold.” She added, plastering a terrifying smile on her face as she addressed the table as a whole.

She didn’t give anyone the opportunity to respond before she whirled around, her cape snapping out behind her as she made her way towards the exit. The hologram froze when she was halfway to the door, and for a moment Roxanne thought that it broke before the image began to dim, sending the room into darkness again.

A moment later, the room was illuminated once again as the words _Trial Log 02_ hovered in the air. As soon as the hologram started up the next clip, she found herself in the same courtroom she was in before. The same panel of people sat at the table before her as everyone slowly filed into the room.

She watched as the two couples took their seats before Megamind was escorted in. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed between the last trial log and this one, but at some point between the two Megamind had been handcuffed again. As he pushed past the gate and stepped into the center of the room she had to wonder why they bothered with the handcuffs at all? He’d made it quite obvious that he could get out of them if he wanted to. They certainly weren’t stopping him.

As soon as he came to a stop in the center of the room the judge stood from his seat, his voice echoing in the space as he spoke up, "Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, all of the evidence we have has been entered into consideration. You have been given the chance to testify and plead your case. We have come to our verdicts." As soon as he finished speaking he nodded to the council member directly to his right.

The man stood at his cue, before he offered a simple, "Not guilty." 

As soon as he finished speaking the man next to him stood before he spoke up, "Guilty."

Roxanne grit her teeth at the word. If she didn’t already know how this trial was going to end she’d be on the edge of her metaphorical seat. But she already knew that he’d be found guilty, that he’d effectively be sentenced to death. Where did these people get off on sentencing a child to death over preventing a crime?

The man sitting directly to the judge’s left stood up as his voice broke the tense silence, "Not guilty."

Roxanne swallowed thickly as she glanced over at Megamind, taking in his white-knuckled fists, the way he was grinding his teeth together, the line in between his eyebrows. She was so busy taking in his expression that she wasn’t watching the men at the table, but another voice rang through the room a half second later, "Guilty." 

Her eyes snapped back to the table at the front of the room as the judge looked away from Megamind, his eyes drifting past him to linger on his mothers form as a hint of a smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he narrowed his eyes at her. 

Roxanne could tell that Megamind knew the outcome of the trial before the judge even spoke up, but his voice ringing through the room felt like the final nail in the coffin. "Guilty." 

"A majority of three to two wins." The judge began, and Roxanne watched as the council members standing beside him sat down. The two that had voted in favor of Megamind’s innocence looked upset. One of the two that voted that he was guilty looked genuinely conflicted. And the last council member didn’t seem to care that much at all. 

"Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, you have been found guilty of murder.” The judge’s voice rang out against the silence of the room. "The recorded and justifiable punishment for which is death. A life for a life. You will be put down tomorrow before nightfall. Until then, you will be kept in custody to ensure that no harm is done to any other innocent citizens."

Roxanne quickly looked back over at Megamind, only to find him looking far more composed than she expected. She knew for a fact that if she was in his place she’d be panicking, and yet he stood there looking relatively unswayed. Perhaps he’d been expecting the verdict he received? But still, he was obviously strong enough to escape. So why wasn’t he even trying?

It wasn’t until two guards entered the room, slipped past the gate, and tried to each grab one of his arms that he spoke up as he shrugged them off with ease, "Tell me, what happens when my mother dies?" The question rang through the room, and after a few seconds of complete silence answered him he reiterated, "What happens to the six million people dependant on her protection when she's gone and there's no one to carry on after her?" 

A few of the council members whispered between each other almost worriedly before the judge finally answered the blunt question. "Your mother is still young. You're replaceable." Roxanne could tell by the slight flinch that tugged at Megamind’s frame that the words stung. "I'm sure your father will provide her with the means to create another heir." The judge added simply, shrugging as he tried to downplay the question that clearly got the other four men in the room flustered.

A snarl pulled at Megamind’s lips at the dismissal, his shoulders stiffening as he bit out a harsh, "For _your_ sake, I hope your right." The words were ominous, lingering, and the atmosphere they cast throughout the room even made Roxanne feel uneasy. He turned away before his voice even finished echoing in the space, stalking past the guards and down the hallway to the exit without any further direction. 

He’d disappeared halfway through the door when the hologram froze again, and Roxanne swallowed thickly as the scene faded into darkness. When the words, _Sentence Log 01_ filled the air she hardly even bothered reading them. Instead, her eyes were focused on the bright green ones reflecting back at her from across the room. It was hard to see with the limited light cast from the words, but she could tell that Megamind had his expression steeled into a look of cool indifference before the light faded, casting the room back into darkness.

When the hologram lit up the room again she was standing in what she could best describe as an examination room. Everything was sterile and white, like she’d grown so accustomed to recently. A paper lined medical chair sat in the middle of the room, and if she didn’t know what it was going to be used for she would have seen it as benign.

When a soft clattering noise pulled her attention over to the countertop behind her she saw an older man toss aside a clipboard. She assumed he was a doctor, judging by the stethoscope-like device hanging from his neck and the medical coat hanging from his shoulders. 

The man let out a soft sigh before a gentle rap came from the rooms closed door. He opened it a few seconds after the noise died down, and Roxanne’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of Megamind standing there with a male nurse behind him. As soon as the door opened his bright green eyes flicked around the room, lingering almost warily on the chair sitting in the middle of the room.

The nurse offered the doctor a stiff nod before he turned away and disappeared from sight. “You must be Mehkean, come in.” The man offered, pulling Megamind’s gaze away from the chair as he tentatively stepped inside the room. The man closed the door softly behind them before turning to Megamind and lifting his hand out in greeting, “Doctor Niavun, at your service.” 

Megamind didn’t respond, only eyeing the doctor's outstretched hand warily before the man let out a hefty sigh as his hand fell back down to his side limply. “Yeah, I get that a lot.” The doctor muttered, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck before offering Megamind a lame smile and gesturing towards the chair in the center of the room as he added, “Why don’t you sit down for me?” 

Megamind’s attention drifted to the chair at the question, and it was impossible for Roxanne to miss the anxious way his fingers twitched against his leg, the way his jaw ticked that always accompanied someone grinding their teeth together, the overall suspicious look in his eyes. It was hard to watch, even if she knew that he wasn’t going to die.

“Please don’t make this any harder on either of us than it has to be.” The doctor's soft voice requested, and Roxanne glanced over at the older man only to see him looking up from the clipboard in his hand with an almost sad expression etched into his face. 

Megamind let out a long breath at the words, and after a few lingering seconds he finally started towards the chair, sitting down on it stiffly, every muscle drawn tight. A half-minute later the doctor set the clipboard down again, grabbing a stool and wheeling it over to the side of the chair before sitting down beside Megamind. The man gestured for his arm a moment later, and Megamind compiled after a second's hesitation.

“According to your file I’m supposed to restrain you for this, however, I’d like to give you as much dignity as I can…” The doctor trailed off as he grabbed the hem of Megamind’s sleeve and slowly began rolling it up before he finished, “So let’s ignore that part.” He offered Megamind a soft smile as the words died, seemingly unsurprised when he didn’t get much of a response.

Roxanne watched as the doctor continued to roll Megamind’s sleeve up, her attention firmly fixed on the dark green pattern lancing across his skin. It started near his wrist, the edges wavy and jagged; towards the bottom of his arm it was a distinctly hexagonal pattern, like a honeycomb, Roxanne noted. As more of his arm was revealed she noticed that the pattern began to lose it’s distinct shape, the hexagons turning more blotchy until they reminded her of a jaguar's spots. The doctor stopped rolling his sleeve up as soon as he got it past his elbow, leaving Roxanne to wonder if Megamind had some massive tattoo that she didn’t know about.

“Your markings are coming in nicely.” The doctor noted nonchalantly, and Roxanne paused for a second at the statement. Megamind’s tattoos were actually markings? They had to be natural then, especially if the doctor referred to them as _coming in_. 

“Were.” The simple word was rough, Megamind’s voice thick with worry before he swallowed it down as he glanced over at the man sitting beside him.

“Excuse me?”

“I think you meant, my markings _were_ coming in nicely,” Megamind answered, his eyes flicking down to the dark green shapes outlined on his arm. “In case you haven’t noticed, my life is over.” He explained softly, something like resignation tainting his voice as a frown pulled at the corner of his mouth and his eyebrows pursed together. “The words _coming in_ , implies that they _will_ eventually come in.” He continued, his eyes pulling up to meet the doctors a moment before he focused his gaze on the wall standing before him as two soft words filled the air, “They won’t.”

The doctor seemed a bit stunned at his words, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he clearly struggled for a response. “Right.” He murmured, swallowing thickly and standing up as he offered a quick, “My apologies.” 

Roxanne watched as the man stepped over to the cabinets against the adjacent wall, standing out of Megamind’s line of sight as he ran a hand over his face. She could practically feel the confliction rolling off of him in waves. He bent over the countertop a moment later, resting his elbows on the surface before burying his face in both of his hands for a long moment. It seemed to take a few seconds for him to regain his composure, and even then, when he finally righted himself once again he seemed torn apart at the situation.

He pulled open one of the drawers before taking a single syringe in his hands. "Is anyone coming?" He questioned, his voice falling a few notes short of being anything but upset. "Family? Friends?"

"No,” Megamind answered dully, drawing in a long, shuddering breath before adding, "I'm afraid not." Roxanne pursed her lips at the statement. Where were his parents? He’d technically been a teenager when all of this had been happening to him. Shouldn’t one of them be there? If for nothing else then to at least provide emotional support and spend what were supposedly his last minutes with him?

"Aren't you a little young?" The doctor asked, seemingly out of the blue, his voice betraying his true feelings regarding the situation.

Megamind blinked at the question, turning slightly to get a good look at the man as he lifted a single eyebrow, "Are you questioning the fairness of our justice system?" The question wasn’t an accusation, but rather, it was curious. It made Roxanne wonder what was going on in that mind of his.

"What if I am?" The doctor answered with a question of his own, gesturing around the room with his free hand as he asked, "Does _this_ seem _fair_ to you?"

Megamind stared in what she could only describe as stunned silence for a few seconds, blinking slowly as he glanced down at his arm, tapping his fingers against the crinkly paper covering the chair before his quiet, forlorn voice answered, "As long as I'm sitting in this chair, my opinion is worth very little." 

The doctor fell silent at his answer, his eyes shifting from Megamind to the syringe in his hand as his shoulders fell slightly. A few lingering seconds ticked by before he finally turned back to the wall of cabinets, pulling one of them open before retrieving a vial filled with light pink liquid. He turned the vial around in his hands for a moment, but inevitably, he stuck the needle in the top and measured out a full syringe.

He placed the vial back in the cupboard when he was finished, lingering by the counter for a moment longer than necessary before he finally sat down beside Megamind once again. She watched as the young genius looked over at the man sitting beside him, his eyes lingering on the syringe in his hands as he drew in a shaky breath.

"Is it painful?" The question was soft, and even though she could tell he was trying to hide it, she could hear fear leaking into the words. It was heartbreaking, the innocence in the question, the look in Megamind’s big green eyes, the simple fact that a teenager was about to die because of a skewed justice system.

"It's an overdose of a sleep aid. It won't hurt any more than a blood draw.” The doctor answered, his voice gentle. She watched as the man drew in a long breath before explaining, “It'll take five minutes to kick in." Megamind nodded at the words, a shaky breath escaping him as he stared at the syringe.

Roxanne held her breath as she watched the doctor twist his arm, his fingers seeking out a vein before he lifted the syringe and pressed it into Megamind’s flesh. She watched his fingers twitch as the needle slipped through his skin, and she swore that every muscle in her body was tense as she wondered why nobody had stopped this yet.

Almost as though the hologram could read her mind, the door to the room burst open a second later. A harsh, echoing bang filling the air as it slammed against the wall. She jumped as she turned to find Megamind’s father standing in the threshold, his eyes wide and chest heaving as he held a hand out. "Wait!" 

He drew in a few uneven, ragged breaths as his hand fell down to his side before he breathlessly explained, "We found a witness. The case is being reopened." 

She turned back to the doctor and Megamind to watch as he fell back against the chair, his tense muscles going limp as he let out a long, relieved breath. The doctor pulled the syringe from his arm without any further ado, standing up and discarding it in a sharps box.

"Oh thank Ameria,” Megamind breathed as he stared up at the ceiling, his body still limp as he lifted a hand and rubbed it over his face. His father stepped into the room, grabbing him by his bare arm before bodily pulling him from the chair. She watched as Megamind stumbled the first few steps before finally regaining his footing.

"Come on, son." His father murmured as he wrapped an arm around his child's shoulders and began to work the hem of his sleeve back down his arm. Before he stepped through the door he offered the man who had very nearly taken Megamind’s life a quick nod before stating a simple, "Doctor."

As the two of them stepped out of the room and into the hallway, the last thing Roxanne caught was Megamind’s annoyed voice asking, “Could you have cut it _any_ closer?”

The hologram paused and dimmed as soon as they disappeared from sight, the room fading back into darkness before the words _Trial Log 03_ hovered in the air. When the hologram came back up, she found herself standing in the middle of the courtroom once again. 

Just like the last two times she watched scenes play out in this room, both Megamind’s parents and the weepy-eyed couple sat in the witness stands. The same five men sat at the table as well. This time, the biggest difference seemed to be that Megamind was standing near the back of the speaking floor, and in his place, a familiar woman was standing front and center.

"Please state your name." The judge requested almost boredly, leaning forward until he was bracing his weight on the table sitting before him.

"Aennier Auris Cerau, second of her name." The woman answered, her voice ringing in the room.

"And you have testimony regarding the case between Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai versus the people?" The judge pressed, watching as she nodded at the question.

"I do."

“And why weren’t you here for the first trial?” He asked, his voice dropping to a tone that screamed of accusation. 

Roxanne watched as the woman narrowed her eyes at him at the question. When she did answer, her voice came out far more scathing and accusatory than his. “I was in a different city visiting family, and I wasn’t given the traditional two-week period typically mandated to prepare myself to stand witness for a trial.”

The judge leaned back into his chair at her retort, his jaw ticking as he tapped his fingers against the table for a moment. Eventually, his voice broke the quiet once more, "And you were what, in regards to this case?"

"A witness, a victim,” Aennier explained, turning slightly to glance over at Megamind before she finished, “A person who would just like to thank her hero." Roxanne watched Megamind’s eyes widen at the statement, as though he was genuinely surprised that anyone would ever call him a hero. 

"Your testimony?" The judge pressed, pulling Aennier’s gaze back up to the five men seated at the front of the room.

Roxanne watched as she drew in a long breath, undoubtedly steeling herself in for the story to come before she finally began. "I’d just gotten off work and I was about to head home when the recently deceased Enrom Auris Cerau jumped me.” She explained, swallowing and drawing in a deep breath before she continued, “In the past, he'd kidnapped me and courted me seven times before. Each time, I denied his proposal.”

“He was angry. He told me that he was ‘ _tired of being denied what was rightfully his_ ’." She continued, lifting her hands and making air quotes with them before letting them fall back to her sides limply. "He told me that if I wouldn't accept him myself, he'd make sure I'd never be able to have anyone else. He was going to take that choice away from me. He was going to take away my Goddess-given right to pick a mate of my choosing." Her voice began to waver as she continued, and honestly, Roxanne was amazed that she’d held up so well this far. "He was going to rape me." 

The simple, subdued submission wasn’t particularly loud, but Roxanne had no doubt that everyone in the room heard it. She swallowed thickly, drawing in a long, shaky breath before she continued, "I struggled as much as I could, but he was stronger." She paused again, clearly trying to maintain her composure, and Roxanne was mildly surprised at how silent the room had fallen at her testimony. "I'm just thankful that Mehkean found us and stepped in when he did. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn't been there." Aennier explained, turning slightly to glance at Megamind again as she offered him a weak, wobbling smile. 

She turned back to the men sitting at the front of the room as her voice grew more certain. "The punishment for rape is death, if the victim or attempted victim calls for it. So as far as I see, he was just doing your job for you and saving you the trouble." Her voice dipped down into a low, angry tone as she stared up at the judge and the council.

"Do you think Mehkean helped you with the intent to exploit you when you were vulnerable?" The judge questioned curiously, his eyes flicking between her and Megamind as he spoke.

"You're joking… right?" Aennier deadpanned, staring at him in silence long enough for him to shake his head in confirmation that he hadn’t been joking. Roxanne watched as she shot the judge a baleful glare before sternly answering, "No. If he wanted to exploit me he had the chance to, instead he chose to comfort me." She turned to look back at Megamind as she added a firm, "He's a good person." 

Roxanne tried to ignore the sudden surge of possessive heat that reared up within her as the two of them stared at each other for an unnecessarily long beat. She was almost thankful when the judge’s voice pulled her attention back to the front of the room, and their attention away from each other. "We will take this testimony into account and revote." He gave Aennier a long look before asking, "Would you like to make a last statement?"

"He's innocent. You should be thanking him." She stated firmly, giving each man sitting at the table a harsh look before she finished. "I know I am." Roxanne didn’t miss the way she glanced back at Megamind as her words died, and she swallowed down the uncomfortable feeling of it as she sternly reminded herself that she hadn’t even known Megamind existed back then. Hell, back then she’d only been what, three years old? Jesus, that realization was a bit… unnerving.

"All parties are dismissed while the council revotes.” The judge spoke up, and Roxanne watched as everyone filed out of the room. What she certainly didn’t miss though, was the soft smile Aennier gave Megamind as she stepped past him, or the soft tentative way he returned it.

The hologram froze and the room faded back into darkness before she could try to read too deeply into the simple exchange. She shook her head and let out a long breath as she tried to erase the thing from her mind. _Calm down, Roxanne. Of course he had a life before he met you. Of course he met girls before you. It’s not like you didn’t explore and fool around before he landed on earth._ The bright, shining words _Trial Log 04_ lit up the room and pulled her from her internal monologue. 

When the words faded and the hologram came back up she was entirely expecting the courtroom that surrounded her, and all of the people in it. She noted, somewhat thankfully, that at least this time Aennier was back behind the half-wall with all of the other people in attendance.

"Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, the new testimony entered into your case has been taken into consideration. We now have a verdict." The judge spoke up, nodding at the man to his left before he stood and offered the same verdict he had before.

"Not guilty."

The other three council members followed suit, each one standing, and in turn, uttering their own instances of the same two words. _Not guilty._ As soon as all four council members had given their votes, everyone’s attention snapped to the judge. Roxanne wasn’t entirely sure what complexities and intricacies were involved in the alien court system, but something about the slight slump of the judge’s shoulders told her that even if he voted guilty Megamind would still be a free man.

Her suspicions were practically confirmed when she caught him eyeing Megamind’s mother in the audience as she gave him a triumphant smirk. Surely enough, he offered his own verdict a second later, "Not guilty. The council is unanimous." The judge cleared his throat, his eyes flicking back to Megamind in the center of the room as he continued, "Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, you have been cleared of all charges of murder against your name regarding this case." 

The judge glanced back over at Megamind’s mother as his voice began to fade out of the air, and if Roxanne had to guess, something about her smug, _I told you so_ look pushed the man to do what little he could in regards to Megamind’s case; because a moment later, his voice was ringing through the room again, far sterner this time than before. "However, the fact still stands that a man is dead at your hands and that you took actions that led directly to his death, fully knowing that those actions could result in said outcome."

"What do you think you're doing?" Megamind’s mother questioned angrily, springing to her feet as she wrapped her hands around the top of the half-wall, her knuckles almost white.

"Upholding the law!" The judge shouted back, slamming an open hand against the table top, the hollow sound ringing through the room as it was cast back into silence. "Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, you stand charged with voluntary manslaughter." The judge pulled his furious gaze back to Megamind before quickly questioning, "Do you have any further evidence to put forth?"

"I already told you, you should be thanking him!" Aennier’s voice rang through the room a moment later, and Roxanne glanced over to watch as she stood up as well, fixing the judge with a fiery glare.

"Your attacker had a right to a trial. And though the verdict would have led to his death, he was denied that right." The judge rebutted, his voice harsh as he quickly bit out, "How does the council vote?"

Roxanne shook her head at the scene playing out in front of her. Was this really legal? It was obvious that the judge was acting this way out of his own feelings regarding the situation, especially after hearing Megamind’s mother accused him of his motive earlier during the case. Regardless of her feelings towards it though, the room kept moving around her.

The council members stood up in the same order as they had before as the first man uttered a stern, "Not guilty."

The second one seemed conflicted, glancing between Megamind, his mother, and the judge before uttering an almost shameful, “Guilty."

Another firm council member shot the judge a scalding look as he offered a booming, "Not guilty."

The last council member gave Megamind a lingering once-over before stating his own verdict of, "Guilty."

The beginnings of a smirk pulled at the very corner of the judge’s mouth as he offered his own statement, "Guilty." 

"This is outrageous!" Aennier shouted, starting towards the gate before Megamind’s mother stopped her with a gentle arm, shaking her head as she discouraged the woman from acting out.

"The recorded and justifiable punishment for voluntary manslaughter is house arrest for a time period of five to twenty-five years. Given the split between votes, a sentence of fifteen years is acceptable." The judge bit out, glaring at Megamind through narrowed eyes as he spoke. "You will be confined to your parent's house until you turn fourteen. At which point, you will be assigned your own living space and shall be confined to it until the full term of your sentence has been served. Regular bi-weekly psychologists appointments will be held en-suite. When the sentence has been served in full you shall be released pending psychologist clearance. You will be allowed as many guests as you would like, and educators will work with you and your parents to complete your education." He gave Megamind’s parents a smug smirk before finishing, "You are all dismissed."

**< ^^><^^><^^><^^><^^><^^>**

Their footsteps echoed almost eerily against the walls of the hallway, the silence a thick, permeating thing. When the hologram logs finally ended Megamind had signed out of the computer in silence before leaving the small room. Neither of them had said a word to the other as he led her back to the residential wing, and really, she didn't know what to say. _I just want you to know it's okay?_ No, that wouldn't work. Nothing about what he'd been put through was okay. _I think you did the right thing?_ That didn't seem right either. What did it matter if she thought he'd done the right thing? She hadn't almost lost her life over it. _Everyone has something in their past they're not proud of?_ Jesus, talk about making it seem like his past struggles were negligible compared to the struggles of others. _Thank you for trusting me enough to show me that?_ Yeah. That seemed pretty good. She could work with that.

Before she had a chance to say the single sentence that had taken her so long to come up with, Megamind was coming to a stop before a door that she quickly recognized was hers. "I'll have Minyn deliver your dinner en suite." He explained, his voice soft, subdued. He didn't even look her in the eyes as he spoke, suddenly very interested with the plain white wall across the hall. 

Roxanne tried to ignore the heavy feeling that accompanied the statement, swallowing thickly as she deadpanned, "Oh… okay." Megamind turned away as soon as her voice died, starting back the way they just came before she pressed, "Are you busy tonight? Or something?"

He stopped in his tracks at the question, turning back to face her as a look of confusion pulled at his features. "Why do you ask?"

Roxanne shifted slightly at the question, _because you’re a lot of fun and I kinda like you_. She pushed the thought back where it came from as she struggled to come up with an acceptable answer. "Well, I just…" She trailed off, swallowing thickly before drawing in a deep breath and finishing, "I enjoy your company." There. That wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t a lie, even if it wasn’t the _whole_ truth.

"You enjoy my company?" Megamind questioned, and she would have written it off as genuine surprise if it wasn’t for the accusation in his voice. He took two swift steps towards her before coming to an abrupt stop only a foot or two away. "I'm a murderer." The words were practically growled as he lifted a hand and jabbed a finger into his own chest. "I'm dangerous." 

The words weren’t even all the way out of his mouth before she started shaking her head, offering her own gentle rebuttal, "You didn't mean to kill that man." 

"And you saw what a strong defense that was." Megamind snarled, lips pulling back over sharp teeth as he closed the remaining distance between them, making Roxanne unconsciously press herself back against the wall. "Do you think it'll work the next time?" He questioned curiously, fury bubbling just beneath a strained film of composure. Roxanne drew in a sharp breath when he leaned in over her, bracing a hand on the wall just above her shoulder.

She stopped breathing when he leaned in closer, the tips of their noses practically brushing before he spoke up again, "Sir, I didn't mean to _kill_ my _wife_.” The words were drawled with a mockingly mournful tone as he lifted his other hand, fingers ghosting across the line of her jaw as he went on, “I was just angry, I forgot my own strength. We all know how _terribly fragile_ humans are." His tone remained mockingly light as his fingers tightened, pressing into her skin more than hard enough to force her to recognize the pressure, but certainly not hard enough to hurt her.

Roxanne swallowed at the feeling, trying her best to ignore the shiver of anticipation that threatened to slip down her spine. Dear God, what was wrong with her? Here he was pushing her up against a wall in a deserted hallway, basically threatening her, and she was getting all hot and bothered. _Stockholm syndrome_ , the nagging little voice in the back of her head chided, and she forced the thought away. So what if it was a little hot when he tried to pretend to be the bad guy? She knew that he wasn’t some hardened murderer, and she wasn’t about to let him think that he could push her away by scaring her. 

"Humans are a dangerous species. We kill with alarming ease. You’d be lucky to make it to a courtroom and not a morgue" Roxanne breathed, using his own words against him. She watched as he narrowed his eyes slightly, his mouth pressing into a thin line before she added, "Isn't a human like me the perfect mate for an Aevus like you? After all, we're both so prone to violence that we can just kill each other and save everyone else the hassle." His eyes widened slightly at the statement, and she had to admit that she felt a tiny rush of triumph. He hadn’t been expecting her to know about what the media was saying. 

"You don't scare me, Megamind,” Roxanne murmured, her voice growing soft as she tried to reassure him. She may not be a behavioral specialist or a psychologist, but she could tell when a person was getting defensive because they felt vulnerable. 

"I should." He growled softly, fingers loosening their grip as they slowly began to trail down the line of her jaw. "You shouldn't _want_ to have dinner with me. Least of all in your room.” He murmured, his tone deepening even as he managed to maintain that threatening undertone. “I mean, talk about convenience. Soundproof walls make so many illicit activities that much easier, and that’s beside the fact that there’s such a plethora of surfaces to choose from." His fingers slowly trailed down the line of her throat as he spoke, and this time, Roxanne failed to hold back the subsequent shiver.

He pulled back at the reaction, something like guilt flashing in his eyes for a split second, and she quickly realized that he probably thought that she was scared. He stepped away from her and whirled back to stalk out of the catacomb-like hallways without another word. Roxanne drew in a deep breath as she tried to get a hold of herself, silently pushing away the thought that she was probably doomed to hell for finding his whispered threats of sexual assault arousing; even if she knew that they were meaningless threats.

"It feels safe, doesn't it?" Roxanne questioned, the words ringing loudly against the walls as Megamind came to another sudden stop. "Pushing people away as soon as you realize that they're starting to break down your walls." He turned at the accusation, bright green eyes boring into her own with some strange mixture of surprise and fury. 

"If you reject them then they never have the chance to reject you, because in the end, you know that's what'll happen.” She continued, pushing herself from the wall as she took a few determined steps towards him. “A day will come when the rose-colored glasses fall away and they see you. Who you really are. And when that happens, they're as good as gone. Who would want to stay with someone like _you_?” He flinched at the question, swallowing thickly as she took a few more calculated steps in his direction. “But by the time they run, you're already done for. You've already fallen. _Hard_. And when they leave, it destroys you,” Roxanne added simply, offering a lame shrug with the statement as she swallowed down the thickness threatening to clog her throat. “And sure, maybe it hurts right now, destroying what little is there. But God fucking damnit, it sure as hell hurts less than it will later on."

"It does feel safe, as _you_ very well know,” Megamind answered, accusal dripping from his voice. She had to admit that one hurt, even if she deserved it. When she was silent for more than a few seconds he turned back around and continued to stalk off. He’d very nearly rounded the corner and disappeared out of sight before Roxanne spoke up.

"I forgive you." Megamind came to such an abrupt stop at the words that she thought he was going to topple over.

"What was that?" He questioned, his voice dark as he stood as though he was rooted to the spot.

"I said," Roxanne began, stepping forward and closing the distance between them. She circled around Megamind’s side and came to a stop in front of him, lifting a hand and placing it carefully against the curve of his cheek before she finally spoke up. "I forgive you." 

It took a second for his stony expression to waver and then break. One moment he standing there staring down at her with a stiff expression, and the next she found herself suddenly pressed into his chest, his arms wrapping around her like a vise. She slowly wrapped her arms around him in turn, gently resting her hands on his back as she felt a ragged, shuddering breath escape him. 

It took her a moment to realize that he was crying, it wasn’t until he drew in a rough hiccuping breath and pulled her tighter against him, his fingertips bruising into her skin as he rested his head against his shoulder, warm salty tears staining the fabric of her jumpsuit. "Shh… it's okay." She murmured, running her hand gently up and down his back as another quiet sob escaped his throat. "It's okay. I forgive you. It's okay." The words came like a mantra, and it wasn’t until she heard footsteps and the echoing sound of laughter from a bit further down the hallway that she managed to carefully pull back from his iron-like grip.

"Come on, let's go inside." She pressed, offering him a soft smile even though he refused to meet her eyes, instead staring at the floor as he nodded mutely at her words. She quickly reached down, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards her room before slipping inside with him. As soon as the door was closed behind the two of them she led him to the cream-colored loveseat sitting before a wall of windows that showcased the ocean view. 

He followed behind her as though he was in a trance, sitting obediently when she pushed lightly as his chest. She watched as he curled in on himself in the corner of the couch, and she grabbed the white throw blanket from the back of the couch before draping it over him. He made an appreciative noise at the gesture, burrowing deeper into the couch as he wrapped himself up in it. 

She decided to give him a moment to himself as she made her way over to the tiny kitchenette, grabbing a glass out of one of the cabinets before filling it with water. A quick trip to the bathroom earned her a box of tissues, and by the time she returned to the loveseat Megamind had wiped away the tear tracks staining his face as he stared blankly at the ocean. It wasn’t until she placed the water and the tissues on the coffee table in front of him and sat down beside him that he finally looked over at her. 

"Thank you,” Megamind stated softly reaching out for the water and taking a long sip before holding it on his lap and idly dipping a fingertip into the clear liquid.

"You’re welcome." Roxanne offered, giving him a small smile that he didn’t even see as he turned his attention back out to the ocean. 

They were silent for a while, and the whole time Roxanne was caught up trying to digest everything that’d happened. She wasn’t surprised that he’d lashed out. She’d probably do the same thing if their positions were swapped, if she had one of her darkest secrets stripped away from her before she was ready to give them up on her own. Hell, she’d lashed out for far less already. 

She understood the outburst. What she didn’t understand was the subsequent breakdown. The way he clung to her like she was a life raft in the middle of the sea. The way he’d broken down into tears so suddenly. The way it all happened as soon as she said… _I forgive you_. That was it, wasn’t it? The straw that broke the camel's back. Had no one ever really told him that they forgave him for that? 

"I'm sorry,” Megamind’s soft, brittle voice filled the air, pulling her attention back to the present. "I…" He trailed off, clearing his throat and shaking his head slightly before placing the glass on the table. "Goddess, I'm such a fucking mess." He grumbled under his breath, burying his face in both of his hands as he let out a long sigh.

"Hey. It's okay,” Roxanne murmured gently, scooting a little closer to him as she reached out and rubbed a careful circle into his back. "You just re-lived the lowest point in your life. You're allowed to have an outburst." As the seconds ticked by without a response she carefully pressed, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I've talked about it with more psychiatrists than I care to count,” Megamind muttered as he pulled his hands away and straightened himself, looking over at her as she pulled her hand away.

"Yeah, but did you actually talk? Or did you just tell them what you knew they wanted to hear?" Roxanne questioned, watching as a small, barely-there smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He shook his head softly, looking back out at the ocean as he practically whispered, "Better than Goddess sent." 

Roxanne fell silent for a moment at the hushed compliment. Honestly, she was still trying to figure out how to react to that particular endearment. "I'm just saying…” She trailed off when Megamind glanced back over at her with curious eyes. “I won't judge you, or hold it against you, or psychoanalyze you. I just thought it might help to vent." 

He smiled tightly at the offer, nodding once before turning his gaze back to the ocean view. Silence lapsed on between the two of them for what had to be a few minutes, and Roxanne tried to tell herself that it was okay if he didn’t want to talk. It wasn’t like it hurt to think that he didn’t _want_ to let her in like that. Nope. It didn’t hurt at all.

"I let my family down when I killed that man…" Megamind spoke up quietly after what felt like almost half an hour, even though Roxanne knew that it hadn’t been quite that long. He swallowed thickly at the admission, turning to look at her as he softly continued, "Not because I wasn't doing the right thing, they both supported my actions _behind_ closed doors." 

He fell silent for a long moment, fingers toying with the hem of the blanket wrapped around his shoulders as Roxanne wondered why he chose to emphasize the point that his parents only approved of the decision when others weren’t watching. 

"The more religious among us equate Aevus's to demigods. And when I acted in the way I did, I accidentally sent the message that vigilante justice had a divine blessing,” Megamind explained letting out a soft sigh before adding, “Meanwhile, my mother's platform, her whole life, has been built around accountability to the system. My mother wanted a stronger justice system, she wanted everyone, including Aevus's, to be held accountable for their actions. She wanted to usher in a fairer era of justice. So, when people started handing out punishments as they saw fit because I did…” Megamind trailed off, shaking his head slightly before finishing, “It set her platform back by years."

Roxanne held her breath at the sudden influx of information. A good portion of his people apparently thought he was _half-God_ , and she was just now finding out about it. She didn’t have long to consider the implications of that simple fact before he muttered a quiet, broken, "I'm the family disappointment."

Megamind drew in a shuddering breath as the words died, and Roxanne opened her mouth to assure him that he wasn’t. That his parents _couldn’t possibly_ be disappointed in _him_ , the genius who made their society a better place and helped people when they needed it. Before she had the chance to say any of that though, his now bitter, worried voice was filling the air, "And now here I am, shoved into this _ridiculously important_ position, and I'm terrified that I'm going to screw it up."

"What important position?" Roxanne questioned curiously, trying to figure out what he could possibly be referring to.

"This!" Megamind shouted, gesturing around the room with an arm before he quieted down a moment later. "Me and you." His voice was soft as he spoke, and he must have noticed her confusion because he immediately added, "The politics surrounding it all." 

Roxanne shook her head softly, her eyebrows pursing together as she opened her mouth to ask what politics he was referring to, but he beat her to the chase; "My people are _terrified_ of humans. Your wars, your weapons, your ability to hate each other over something as simple as skin color, or religion, or lineage." He shook his head, a look of concern flashing over his features as he drew in a deep breath and soldiered on. "My people _are scared_. And when people are scared, the most likely course of action is to eliminate the threat." 

Roxanne swallowed at his words. _Eliminate the threat._ Eliminate humans. "Why don't you?" The words tumbled from her mouth before she thought to stop them, and she shrugged at the sudden, flabbergasted look that took over his features. "Peace is difficult, and I'm not saying _I want_ to be wiped out of existence, I'm just saying…” She trailed off shaking her head and forcing herself to meet his green gaze before softly finishing; “I don't understand why you haven't." 

Megamind shook his head at the simple statement, quietly muttering to himself, "If we act how they did when they first came to our planet, then we are no better than them. I refuse to turn into the monsters that we worked so hard to escape." Roxanne was about to ask what he meant, who the _them_ was that he was referring to. But before she even had enough time to process the statement fully he was going off on one of his monologues.

"One reason, I've already iterated, is that the planet would be damaged removing your species from it. A second reason, is that your species is capable of things mine is not. You're well adapted to this planet. You're well acquainted with it. We could _survive_ without you, but we could not _flourish_. A third, is that only Aevus's handle warfare. We've lost eighty percent of the Aevus subspecies before during war. We would like to avoid that here." 

He let out a soft breath, his eyes meeting hers for a long moment before he added, “My _people_ want you dead. My _leadership_ , does not.” 

Roxanne swallowed thickly at the statement. His _leadership_. Was she really supposed to believe that meant anything more than his parents and himself? They were _the_ leadership. And really, she was grateful that they were making such an effort to save her people, but how long would they keep trying when it could save them so much hassle to just cut humans out of the equation?

“So, how in the world could we possibly get our citizens to accept humans?" Megamind questioned, pulling her attention back to him and the present moment. "Ah. Yes." He muttered, rolling his eyes before supplying, "Divine blessing.” 

“Shove a demigod with a human and the opinions will start to change.” He explained, gesturing between the two of them with an open palm as Roxanne took in the simple statement. 

Megamind leaned in slightly before he continued his rant. “Yes, the arranged marriages are there to protect us from humans starting a war, but they're also there to send the _three million_ incredibly religious citizens I have a message. One that says, your ambassador from God likes the humans and wants you to be their friend.” 

Roxanne blinked at the number. _Three million._ Three million people who were scared of her, who hated her, who wanted her _dead_. Would marrying Megamind really make them feel differently? Would they accept her? Or resent her even more?

“Which also means that if this all falls through…” Megamind trailed off with a sigh, running a hand over his head before fixing her with a deadly serious expression. “It would look _very bad_ for humanity if one of you were to reject a demigod." 

She swallowed at the statement, fully understanding that what he truly meant was, _the three million religious members of my branch would be outraged that you discarded and dishonored a demigod_. And, _if this doesn't work between us there will very likely be a war that I won't be able to stop_. 

Megamind let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head as he stood up, letting the blanket slip from his shoulders and pool on the couch. "So, not only do I have this massive fucking burden of politics, but I have to somehow manage to get you to fall in love with me, because _humans_ marry for _love_." He began venting at full force, stalking back and forth in front of the couch as he gestured wildly with his hands. His words were coming fast, his tone was fluctuating with his emotions, and Roxanne found that she could only stare in silence.

"And I am _shit_ at the politics, and I am _shit_ at the romance, and this is all going to fall apart because I can’t do anything right because I’m _not_ a _fucking God_ , I’m a _man_. And I am _lost_ , and _terrified_ , and I’m going to break this just like I break everything else in life because I’m a _fucking failure_!” His rant devolved into a personal attack against himself as he continued to pace like a wild animal that was angry that it had been locked in a cage.

“Megamind," Roxanne addressed him softly as she stood up from the couch, stepping in front of him and resting her hands gently on his chest, forcing him to stop pacing. She could feel his chest heaving with every breath he took, she could feel the way his muscles were drawn impossibly tense, but the thing that actually scared her was the simple fact that she could _see_ the _fear_ in his eyes. And if _he_ was scared of something, then she should probably be _terrified_ of it. “It’s gonna be okay.” She breathed, swallowing thickly as soon as the words left her mouth.

“You don’t know that," Megamind muttered, shaking his head as he lifted his hands, wrapping them around her wrists as he moved to pull her away.

“I do," Roxanne reassured him, pressing a little harder against his chest as she forced herself to ignore the surprising amount of muscle hiding under his jumpsuit. “And I’m glad that you told me all of this because now I can make an informed decision.” His hands fell away from her wrists as she spoke, and a moment later she pulled her hands away.

“I didn’t realize what an impact this would have before, but I do now.” She explained, staring up as his wide, worried green eyes and she drew in a deep breath before swallowing thickly. _This was it_ , she realized. There was no more pretending that life would go back to normal. There was no more denial. And there were only _twelve days_ left. 

“I’ll say yes.” She stated as she stared up at him. His eyes grew wider at the admission, and when his mouth parted she spoke up before he could interrupt. “Even _if_ I don’t _love_ you, I’ll say yes.” She nodded as she spoke the words, making the promise to herself as much as she was making it to him.

She'd spent most of the day wondering if she really had a choice. And now she knew that she didn't. Not a good one at least. Countless lives were going to be on the line for her decisions, and if saving them meant sacrificing a few things, then so be it. 

Besides, she had a feeling that Megamind would respect her autonomy even after they were married. If she wanted her own room he'd probably make sure she had one. If she wanted their relationship to be purely political, he would probably only spend time with her to fill her in on the current affairs and make public appearances. If she wanted to co-parent their child like a divorced couple sharing custody, he would probably make it work. None of those things would be easy on them, and she had no idea if she would ever need or even want them, but she knew that he would respect her enough to work out something between them.

“You deserve better than that…” Megamind trailed off shaking his head before continuing, “I dragged you into all of this and you shouldn’t have to-”

“Shh," Roxanne cut him off, shaking her head as she lifted a single finger up to his lips. “That doesn’t matter anymore.” She breathed as she pulled her hand away. “What matters, is that you don’t have to worry about the worst case scenario anymore because I’m _not_ going to let it happen.”

Megamind gave her a conflicted, almost mournful look, but she could practically see the stress and tension drain from his body at her reassurance. His gaze flicked down to the ground as he drew in a long breath and shook his head, his eyebrows drawing together before he finally looked back up at her. 

“I’m sorry, Roxanne.” He offered quietly, and she tried to ignore the way he used her first name. Tried to ignore how much more intimate it was than _Miss Ritchi_.

“What for?” Roxanne breathed, shaking her head as she tried to figure out what exactly he was apologizing for. 

“Denying you the chance to actually have a loving marriage.” He explained, his voice oddly drained and lifeless, eerily similar to the way he'd sounded all those years ago when he was speaking with a doctor who had been about to take his life. 

Roxanne did her absolute best to try to ignore the hurt that threatened to well up at his words. “You don’t think you could fall in love with me?” She whispered, and if her voice came out a bit too wounded, well, she was hardly to blame. 

Megamind offered her a small, tight, sad smile at the question. His eyes filling with something that looked scarily similar to sadness or regret as he lifted a hand and rested it gently against the side of her face, his thumb lightly tracing the delicate skin under her eye for a brief moment before he pulled his hand away, letting it fall back to his side limply. 

She bit her lip when he started to step away without answering. This was okay. She shouldn't have expected… Jesus, why did it hurt so bad though? _Just don't cry in front of him. Just wait until he leaves and then you can break down._ She told herself as she stared at the wall, balling her hands into fists as the unwelcome, heavy, throbbing hurt of it set in. 

It wasn't until she heard her front door open that she finally forced herself to look over at him. Her eyes meeting his only to find him already halfway in the hallway. 

She was expecting him to leave, to just close the door and disappear. What she wasn't expecting were the soft, reserved words that came out of his mouth.

“I’m already in love with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as another cliffhanger? (If so at least it's a fairly happy one?)
> 
> About upcoming chapters: It's going to happen eventually, so when the time comes, would we prefer that I change the rating to M and smut it up in here? Or would we rather keep it at T and go for a classic fade to black? (Not to be horny on main... but personally I'm leaning towards changing the rating later on...)
> 
> Just a quick warning, I have an ATLA fic in desperate need of an update, so I'm going to post a chapter on that before promptly returning to my work here! Sorry for the delay that will result!


	7. Day Three - Part One (Roxanne)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all of the lovely comments last chapter! (I actually got so many that I'm still trying to find the time to respond to them all... I promise I'm not ignoring anyone!) And a big thank you to everyone who left their thoughts on the 'to smut or not to smut' question!
> 
> Thanks to a suggestion from Quicksilver_Maiden, I decided to keep the rating of this story at T and post the smut chapter as a related one-shot, tied into the same universe by a series. I have already created the series, and named it _Between Galaxies and Supernovas_ (as I'm sure a few of you have noticed) because I'm bad at coming up with names! Whoo! The series idea had the most support, and it made the most sense because I would _eventually_ like to write a few one-shots based in this universe later on. :) 
> 
> **CHAPTER CONTENT WARNING:** Mentions of attempted suicide in the past. 
> 
> I think the chapters after this one will be a bit lighter than this one and the last one... hopefully...

Roxanne sat in the loveseat, curled up into the blanket as she watched the sun continue its ascent over the horizon. She felt so… so lost. God. What had her life even turned into? Aliens, and arranged marriages, and unrequited love that actually turned out to be requited. 

Megamind loved her.

Or so he claimed.

But really, there was no way he could love her. Not the real her. He didn’t even know her. And somehow that hurt more than if he would have just walked out the door without saying a word. He believed he loved her. That was all it was, like some fanciful fairytale. She could believe that he lusted after her. That seemed possible. But _love_?

What the hell did _he_ know about love anyway?

She let out a rough sigh at the thought, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to ignore the hurt welling up in her chest. 

He’d shut the door as soon as he’d finished speaking. As soon as those six, simple little words left his mouth. _I’m already in love with you._

She’d been too shocked to do much of anything for a few lingering seconds. Caught up in a sudden flurry of hope, and happiness, and then hurt; because he couldn’t actually mean it. 

He couldn’t.

When she’d finally gotten ahold of herself she’d rushed to the door and flung it open only to find an empty hallway devoid of any signs of life. Hell, she’d even rushed over to the adjacent hallway that led away from her room. But of course there hadn’t been any sign of him. 

The hurt settled a little deeper at the realization that he’d all but run away from her. And why wouldn’t he? He probably told her a lie to save her feelings. Of course he would want to get away before he dug himself any deeper into the falsity. 

She let out a long groan as she ran a hand through her short hair. Silently cursing herself for allowing herself to feel anything for him in the first place, because at this point she couldn’t even bother to lie to herself anymore. As much as she may not want to, she had feelings for him. And that had been her first mistake, hadn’t it? Allowing someone else that kind of power over her. 

She knew better.

And yet here she was.

Damn him for showing her the man behind all of the walls and layers. Damn him for making her laugh, for making her forget the situation she was really in. And most of all, damn him for putting her in this position to begin with. 

When a soft rap came from her front door she practically swore that she could feel her heart jump into her throat. Despite her better judgment she all but jumped to feet and damn near sprinted to the door. Jesus Christ… she really was a mess, wasn’t she? A fucking catastrophe. 

She ripped the door open in anticipation, fingers fumbling with the handle, only to come face to face with a familiar fish. 

Roxanne drew in a few deep breaths as her eyes flicked around the space, the cold, harsh feeling of her heart dropping in her chest welling up inside of her at the realization that Megamind wasn’t here.

Of course not. 

Why would he be?

“Minyn… ” Roxanne breathed, an unfortunate amount of disappointment tainting her voice.

“Ma’am.” He greeted her with a smile that slowly faded as the seconds ticked by without any further response from her. “Are you… alright?” The fish pressed, his fins fluttering almost anxiously as he stared down at her with wide, worried brown eyes.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” The lie came naturally, and the fake smile she plastered on her face seemed to appease Minyn. She drew in a long breath and did her best to make her voice sound nonchalant as she asked, “Where’s Megamind?”

“He’s in Lansing Michigan, Ma’am. Today you-”

“Spend the day with each others parents…” Roxanne cut him off before he could finish. Great. That’s just what she needed. Megamind teaming up with her mother while he left her to fend for herself with the woman who could rip alien bears apart with her bare hands. A wave of anxiety rushed through her at the thought. “Are you here to take me to mister and misses Urvai?” She questioned tentatively. The thought was more than just a little daunting.

“I am,” Minyn answered, bobbing in his bowl in a way that made Roxanne think that he was trying to mimic someone nodding their head. Roxanne nodded at his words before forcing herself to step out into the hallway.

As Minyn started down the hallways she swallowed thickly. She was not prepared for this, especially when all she wanted to do was go back to her room and wallow in her misery. 

She’d been hoping to ask Megamind for some tips regarding his parents. How she should address them, if there were any strange customs she didn’t know about or understand that she would insult them by not doing. But he hadn’t given her the chance to ask any of those questions. Instead, he’d elected to ghost her for the whole evening.

“No need to worry,” Minyn offered a few moments later without prompting, and Roxanne glanced over at him with an arched eyebrow. He always seemed to tell her what she needed to hear when she was feeling anxious, or confused, or curious. Did he have some kind of weird empathic abilities that no one had told her about?

“They’re sweet people. His father wouldn’t hurt a fly, and his mother…" Minyn trailed off, and she practically swore that if he was capable of scrunching up his face he would be doing just that. "Well, she’s a very strong independent woman.”

Roxanne blanched at the statement. Not, his mother is a gentle soul. Not, his mother is one of the most understanding people I've ever met. Not, his mother has the patience of a saint. No. _His mother is a very strong, independent woman._

Roxanne loved women like that. Hell, she strived to be a woman like that. But the fact that it was the _only_ thing Minyn could think of to soothe her only frightened her that much more. 

“Oh God, I’m gonna die.” She groaned, lifting a hand and scrubbing it over her face as she attempted to quell her growing panic. She was woefully unprepared for this.

Minyn nudged her side with a robotic arm, justling her gently as he playfully quipped, “Any last words you’d like me to relay to Sir?”

Roxanne rolled her eyes at the question, giving the grinning fish a sour look before playfully retorting, “Shut up.” He let out a rough bark of laughter that startled her a bit as they rounded another corner through the labyrinthine hallways, coming to a dead end at an elevator. She watched as he typed a code into it before the doors slid open and he beckoned her inside. 

Roxanne looked around the small elevator as he stepped in after her. The doors slid shut a moment later as they began descending. As the seconds dragged on she began chewing on her lower lip, torn between nervousness and the hurt that was almost impossible to ignore when she wasn’t occupied. Really, it was hell.

“Hey, Minyn?" Roxanne spoke up after about half a minute, her nosy reporter habits getting the best of her.

"Yes, Ma'am?" He questioned, turning in his tank to look at her expectantly.

"Can I ask you something about Megamind?" She pressed, her eyebrows drawing together as she silently prayed that Minyn would answer her question. He was a fairly reliable source of information, even if he did stonewall her from time to time.

"I suppose…" He trailed off almost warily, eyes flicking around the small enclosed space.

Roxanne drew in a deep breath, attempting to steel her nerves before she finally forced the question past her lips, "Has he ever been in love before?" A wave of hot embarrassment washed over her at the mixed expression of shock, surprise, and confusion that wafted across the fish’s face at the question. 

But really, it was an important question.

If he’d never been in love before then he had no idea what he was talking about, and by default, he couldn’t know if what he felt was love or something more superficial.

If he had been in love before then he knew what he was talking about, and if he knew what he was talking about then there were really only two options.

Option one; he lied. He lied to make her feel better because he could tell that it meant something to her, because he could tell that she would be hurt if he _didn’t_ feel something. 

Option two; it was the truth. Honestly, option two seemed more impossible than anything. He’d known her for two days Goddamnit. There was no such thing as falling in love with someone in two days.

Unless he only fell in love with the _thought_ of her. Unless he did love her, but only the parts he wanted to see. Maybe he loved the _idea_ of her, because there was no way he could possibly love all of her, rough edges and dark corners included. It was impossible to love something if you didn’t even know it existed. 

Maybe he was in love with a version of her that didn’t exist. 

That _never_ had.

That never _would_.

God, that stung more than she expected. "It's not my place to disclose that information, Ma'am,” Minyn answered, pulling her from her internal monologue as a grimace forced the corners of his mouth down. "My apologies."

Roxanne swallowed down the disappointment that ebbed up at his answer, quickly nodding as she replied, "It's okay. I understand."

The elevator slid to a smooth stop before the door opened silently. Roxanne followed Minyn into an underwater hallway, looking at the ocean out of the glass wall to her right as the quiet lingered between them. A moment passed before Minyn let out a deep sigh, his eyes flicking around for a moment before he spoke up, "He was in love once. Years ago." 

Roxanne looked over him at the admission, silently thankful that he’d given her something to work with. "Just once?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, the lapse almost awkward before he answered, "As far as I'm aware. I've been with him since he was one, he's like a brother to me." 

Roxanne blinked a few times at the explanation, entirely caught up on the fact that Minyn saw Megamind as a brother. So, she supposed she could rule out the theory that he was some kind of indentured servant or something; obviously the fish cared quite deeply about the blue alien if he was referring to him as family.

"How old was he?" She pressed as soon as she managed to stop stumbling over the latter half of Minyn’s response. 

"When it started, he was fifteen. When it ended, he was seventeen,” Minyn answered, his voice growing more subdued with each word. 

Roxanne swallowed at the answer, in that case, by his own peoples' standards, Megamind had actually been an adult when he fell in love. Two years was a considerable amount of time to stay with a person, and that wasn’t even considering the fact that in her own years, he’d been with the same person for four years. Jesus. That was easily a long-term relationship. It had to have been fairly serious, right? What could have possibly gone wrong after four years that had been enough to push them apart?

"Why did it e-"

"We're here, Ma'am,” Minyn cut her off. Stopping in front of a door that looked almost identical to the one she stayed in, the largest exception being that this one didn’t have a handle, in its place there was some sort of touchpad. "I wish you the best." He offered with a smile, turning away and disappearing past a similar door about a dozen feet away after punching in the code. 

Roxanne drew in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down, nerves fluttering in her stomach at the thought that she was about to meet two incredibly powerful aliens. Two incredibly powerful aliens who she was supposed to get to like her; that would be her _in-laws_ in less than two weeks.

She lifted a slightly shaking hand before knocking on the door lightly. _Deep breaths, Roxanne. Deep breaths._ She reminded herself silently as she looked out at the endless expanse of dark blue to her right. She’d done interviews with all sorts of powerful people, city leaders, foreign dignitaries, a crime lord here and there; surely she could manage a meeting with Megamind’s parents.

The door swung open after a short moment. She caught the motion out of the corner of her peripheral vision and quickly glanced back over. She recognized the man answering the door from the holograms she’d watched yesterday. He looked eerily similar to Megamind, and honestly, if it wasn’t for his different facial hair style and his golden brown eyes she would easily mistake the two of them. 

"Roxanne Michelle Ritchi?" He questioned, offering her a wide smile as he pulled the door open further. 

"That's me." She answered, giving him a small smile as she nervously tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear. Was it creepy that he knew her middle name by default? She felt like she should probably be a little creeped out, but honestly, she’d kind of been expecting them to know things about her that were fairly common knowledge. 

"Come in, little one." He beckoned her through the doorway as he spoke, and she couldn’t help the real smile that pulled at her mouth at the fatherly term of endearment. She stepped through the doorway and into what she could only describe as a foyer as he closed the door behind her. 

She took in the walls greedily, her eyes lingering on the family pictures hung up on the walls that she desperately wanted to get a closer look at. Her gaze quickly flitted back over to the man as he extended a hand towards her, "I'm Mehkean's father. Drarro Auris Latarum Suri, fourth of his name." She smiled as she reached out and returned the handshake, doing her best to commit his name to memory. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine, Drarro.” Roxanne offered, butchering his name a bit and silently hoping that he didn’t call her out on it. 

"Nonsense, little one." He chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he began to lead her deeper into his house. "And please, call me Drae." He added as she managed to sneak a peek at a picture hanging by the doorway of what appeared to be a childhood Megamind; colorful, feathered, snake-like creatures with fluffy wings wrapped around each of his arms, his neck, and perched on the top of his head as he grinned openly, looking absolutely delighted.

 _Dragons!_ Her mind supplied a half-second later, easily making the connection to the birds of his home planet that Megamind had described and traditional artwork of Chinese dragons.

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?" The question pulled her thoughts away from the fact that she’d just seen a picture of Megamind playing with dragons as a child, and back to the present. 

"I actually haven't had breakfast yet,” Roxanne answered, watching as Megamind’s father gave her a look that screamed of concern.

"Well, that certainly won't do." He muttered to himself as he led her past a wide open living area and into a full-sized kitchen. He gently prodded her to sit down on one of the stools sitting before the kitchen island, only making his way around the fixture after she obediently sunk into the seat. 

She watched as he opened the fridge before rummaging around in it for a moment, glancing back over at her as he asked, "Would tea and fruit suffice?"

Roxanne couldn’t help but smile at the question, her mind immediately drawing her back to the other day when Megamind had phrased a similar question nearly the same exact way. Like father like son, she supposed. "That would be lovely. Thank you, Drae." Roxanne watched as he poked his head back in the fridge before she slid off the stool, "Could I help?"

Drae batted a hand in her general direction at the question, his voice slightly muffled from behind the door of the fridge. "Sit back down." Roxanne held in a soft sigh before doing what he asked. Honestly, she wanted something to preoccupy herself with. She knew for a fact that if she didn’t keep her mind focused on something then she would just go back to aimlessly worrying herself over the things she could mess up with his parents. 

It wasn’t until Drae righted himself and softly shut the fridge door, a Tupperware-like bowl in hand, that he spoke up, "Mehkean doesn't let you get away with that does he?" Each word dripped with accusation, and Roxanne almost felt worried for Megamind despite the fact that he was a grown man. 

"Um… no, Megs doesn't…” Roxanne trailed off, shaking her head as she tried to think of the right way to answer. “I mean… we haven't…" She stumbled to an ungraceful stop, quickly deciding that she’d already made enough of a fool out of herself. 

"Good. I raised that boy better than that." His father remarked, turning away from her and grabbing a bowl out of one of the cupboards before prying the lid off of the Tupperware. She could hear him pouring the contents of the container into the bowl when a smooth, feminine voice broke the quiet. 

"Roxanne Michelle Ritchi?" 

She turned at the sound of her voice, her eyes landing on Megamind’s mother as she made her way towards the kitchen island with smooth, graceful movements that made her instantly feel clumsy in comparison. "That's me. You must be Misses Urvai?" Roxanne questioned as she stood up, offering the woman her hand.

Megamind’s mother smiled at the question, closing the space between them as she replied, "Beautiful and smart." Roxanne couldn’t help the heat that spread across her face at the compliment. "Elaehna Auris Cerau Urvai, first of her name, at your service my dear.” She greeted her, shaking her hand gently as Roxanne silently wondered what kind of magic lotion the woman used to keep her hands so ridiculously soft. 

"It's an honor,” Roxanne managed, quickly taking in the woman's bright green eyes, her square jawline, the simple fact that she looked like she’d walked out of the pages of some sort of beauty magazine and she was still dressed in her pajamas. 

"Nonsense." Elaehna waved away the words, a soft smile pulling at the curves of her mouth as she rested a hand between Roxanne’s shoulder blades and pressed her back towards her stool. "You and I have so much to talk about." She offered as she sat down beside her, bracing her forearms on the bar. 

"Do we?" Roxane questioned, attempting to keep the question light even though her nerves zinged back to life at the womans words.

"Of course, darling." She answered with a soft chuckle, giving Roxanne a comforting pat on the hand before she turned her attention over to her husband; watching as he pulled a mug and a box of tea out of the cupboard before she spoke, "Love, would you mind making me a cup while you're at it?"

"Yes, dear." The response was immediate, and a little exasperated. Roxanne stifled a laugh at his tone while Megamind’s mother simply rolled her eyes and let out a soft sigh. 

"How are things with Mehkean?" She pressed a moment later, returning her attention to Roxanne. The reporter fell silent for a moment at the question, silently trying to figure out how in-depth she wanted the answer to be.

One moment, Megamind’s father was standing in front of the stove, but as soon as the question died he whipped around, stepped closer to the island, and braced his hands on the countertop. The movement was so swift that Roxanne was certain that if she blinked she would have missed it, and she couldn’t help the small, startled squeak that escaped her. "No need for that. They're on a chosen name basis." Drae’s bright voice implied in a way that made it sound scandalous, a grin pulling at his mouth as he gave his wife a knowing smile. 

Elaehna brightened immediately at the news, her eyes lighting up as she glanced over at Roxanne with a beaming smile. "He lets you call him Megs?" The question was soft and surprised, and Roxanne couldn’t help but wonder why that was such a big deal. What was she missing here?

"I actually call him Megamind…" Roxanne trailed off, her eyes flicking down to the countertop as she tried to ignore the heat threatening to sear its way up her face. 

As if on cue the two of them broke into laughter, loud, rumbling chuckles filling the air and reverberating against the walls. "Oh Goddess, as if he needed anyone to inflate his ego any further,” Elaehna chuckled, lifting a hand and wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as she shook her head, her body still shaking with barely contained laughter.

Roxanne wasn’t sure exactly why, but something oddly protective reared up in her at the statement, and before she even realized what she was doing, she was speaking, "I actually don't think he has an ego problem.” Both of Megamind’s parents immediately fell silent at her statement, two curious gazes burning into her skin, clearly seeking out more information. Roxanne drew in a deep breath before quietly admitting, “I think he just pretends to be self-assured to hide self-consciousness and self-loathing." 

After being there during his breakdown yesterday she was almost certain that was what it was. He’d called himself the family disappointment, a failure, a mess. It was obvious that there were some issues there, she wasn’t sure if they all stemmed from the repercussions of his voluntary manslaughter case, but now she knew that the cockiness was definitely a front. 

"Beautiful and smart seems to be an understatement,” Elaehna stated softly, her expression losing all hints of humor as something almost sad took up residence in its place. "You, my dear, are quite clearly beautiful and brilliant." She added a moment later, tapping her fingers softly on the countertop as she swallowed thickly. The subdued mood seemed to affect Megamind's father too, his smile fading as he turned his attention back to the stove. A moment of brief silence passed before Elaehna looked back up, offering Roxanne a small smile as she asked, "So, how are things with him?"

"Things are…" Roxanne trailed off, trying to think of the right word to use. Telling her that things were fine would be a lie, telling her that she was confused and lost and a little hurt would just lead to a line of questioning that she really didn’t want to get into with someone she’d met five minutes ago. So, she settled on something a bit vaguer than that, "Complicated."

"How so?" Elaehna pressed gently, no hints of judgment in her voice or expression, if anything she just seemed curious, perhaps a bit concerned.

"You mean other than the culture barrier?" Roxanne questioned, managing a husk of a laugh that quickly devolved into a groan as she buried her face in her hands. "I had a hard enough time coming to terms with the thought of getting married before I found out about kids, and lifespans, and kidnappings." She muttered, shaking her head as she tried not to think about the added complications that had just come up yesterday. God. This all really felt like too much sometimes.

"I could see how the kidnapping could be a shock,” Elaehna offered, and Roxanne pulled her hands from her face and righted herself as the woman rested a gentle hand on her back. "Do you not like children?" Her next question was curious, and Roxanne couldn’t help but tap her fingers nervously against the countertop as she tried to think of an answer. Megamind had made it clear that at least one child was non-negotiable, the bloodline must survive after all. 

"It's not that I dislike them,” Roxanne hedged. She really didn’t dislike children, if she was being honest with herself, she was a little scared of the responsibility that went with having a child. Being a constant source of comfort, protection, and wisdom. The duty to raise a decent person, one that knew the difference between what was right and what was wrong. It was a herculean task, and really, she’d never thought about taking it lightly. “I just seem to lack the maternal instincts that all of my friends have." She offered a moment later, shrugging as she spoke. It wasn’t a lie. She’d never gotten baby fever like so many of her friends had, she’d never felt like she needed a child to complete her life. 

"I felt the same way honestly,” Elaehna replied a moment later, pulling her hand away as she gave the countertop a thoughtful look. 

"You did?" Roxanne pressed, seeking some kind of further confirmation.

She nodded at the question, glancing over at her before responding, "That's why we only ever had one." 

"That, and Megs was a fucking handful when he was a kid,” Drae added as he turned back towards the two women with a steaming mug in each hand. Roxanne managed to hold in a chuckle at the statement, but she couldn’t stop a grin from spreading over her face. 

"Yes, that as well,” Elaehna agreed readily, taking a mug from her husband as soon as he set them both down, giving Roxanne a pointed look before adding, "Satan incarnate."

"I'd expect nothing less of _your_ son,” Drae stated pointedly, giving his wife a playfully scolding look. Elaehna shot him a baleful glare at the quip, hissing something in her native tongue that sounded inflammatory even to a foreigner’s ears. Half a second had barely passed before Drae bit back something else in the rumbling, alien language that Roxanne didn’t know. She watched as he leaned in over the countertop as he spoke, and she couldn’t help but let out a muffled chuckle at the sight. She’d seen plenty of couples argue before, but she’d never seen any of those couples make their arguments look so… well, playful. 

It took a moment for her to realize that they’d both fallen silent at the sound of her laugh, both of them staring at her with wide eyes. She waved a hand through the air as she spoke up, "Sorry, it's just…" She trailed off for a moment, another hearty chuckle tearing its way from her throat before she finally managed, "This is not what I expected when Megamind told me about you two."

"He told you about us?" Drae questioned almost immediately, shock obvious in every word.

"Not much,” Roxanne answered, reaching out at taking her warm cup in her hands before she explained, “Just that you love each other, and that you were always there for him when he needed you, and you were supportive, and you know…” She trailed off with a shrug before quickly finishing, “The arranged marriage thing."

“He’s being quite gentle about this then…” Elaehna trailed off, tapping her fingers against her mug before shooting her husband a look that Roxanne couldn’t quite decipher. 

“Gentle about what?” She pressed a moment later, glancing between the two of them before Drae let out a soft sigh.

“Arranged marriage is a very… kind, way to explain our situation.” He clarified after a moment, resting his forearms on the countertop as he settled into his spot. 

“Did he lie to me?” Roxanne questioned immediately, her eyebrows pursing together at the thought that he might not have told the truth. He was really the only source of information she had about his culture, and the thought that he was fine with blatantly spinning falsities didn't settle well with her.

“No. He didn’t lie to you. He simply…” Elaehna trailed off, worrying her lower lip between her teeth before finishing, “Didn’t explain the _entirety_ of the story.”

Roxanne pursed her lips at the statement, quickly glancing between the two of them before settling her sights on Drae. “He said that you were a peace treaty offered by your father.”

Drae let out a sigh at her words, his eyes flicking between her and his wife for a moment before he began, “My father killed Elaehna’s father in a vozroz. A duel, to settle disputes between branches without starting a war.” Roxanne glanced over at the woman sitting beside her at the information, silently wondering how old she’d been when her father died. “However, _to the death_ had never been the specific term of engagement for that vozroz; and on top of that, her father had seceded, and therefore, he shouldn’t have been killed,” Drae continued, his voice soft as his eyes flicked down to the countertop below his hands, shame obvious in his tone. “My father acted in a way that was unbecoming of a leader, and broke the terms of engagement.”

It took a moment for the reality of the statement to settle in. Drae’s father had _murdered_ Elaehna’s father, and it sounded like he’d done so in cold blood even after the man had willingly surrendered. As if on cue, Megamind’s words echoed in her mind; _my mother wanted a stronger justice system, she wanted everyone, including Aveus’s, to be held accountable for their actions_.

“When my father died, I took over leadership of this branch. I was young, and in pain, and furious,” Elaehna explained, looking over at Roxanne before she added, “I declared war between the Cerau branch and the Latarum branch.” Roxanne swallowed at the admission, silently wondering how she ever got to the point in her life where she decided to marry the son of the man who murdered her father. 

“My father knew that we weren’t equipped to win her war,” Drae spoke up a second later, drawing her attention back over to him. “Under normal circumstances we would be. Typically, only those that are heirs to the leadership of a branch would fight in a war, and Elaehna was an only child. However, this war was being led by a fiery, young ruler and the heated backing of her citizens. Oftentimes, when the citizens of a branch feel particularly called to action by the cause of the war, they’ll voluntarily draft themselves. And in this case, when her citizens were mourning the untimely loss of a just and beloved leader… there were plenty of volunteers to go around on her side, and only a handful to be found on ours.” 

Drae let out a soft sigh before he went on, “My father knew that the war Elaehna began was inescapable, he knew that there would be blood over what he’d done, and he knew that it would be the end of the Suri bloodline. So, he offered me as a sacrifice under the _ruse_ of an arranged marriage.” 

“What?” The gasped response was immediate. How could a parent willingly throw their child at an enemy like that, fully knowing, and expecting, that they’d be killed like some kind of repentance token?

“I was the youngest. The third in line to rule. To put it lightly, I was unimportant in the grand scheme of things,” Drae answered simply, offering her a shrug that was just a little too stiff in the shoulders to really come across as nonchalant. “When my father initially contacted Elaehna to set forth the offer for marriage she declined, as he expected. But he pressed the matter.”

Roxanne swallowed thickly at his explanation, looking over at Elaehna as she cleared her throat. She watched as the woman took a sip of her tea before placing the cup down gently as continuing the story, “He told me; I’m well aware that you don’t care to take on a husband at this time, but think about it, my son would be right there, and it really would be a shame if something were to happen to him while he was with you, but _accidents_ have been known to happen.”

“And you accepted?” Roxanne questioned, no small amount of outrage tainting her voice. 

“You probably think I’m a monster,” Elaehna admitted, her eyes flicking down to the countertop guiltily. “You wouldn’t be incorrect…” She trailed off, tracing a finger around the rim of her mug as she continued, “I was a monster back then…”

“I didn’t accept because Drarro’s death would have satiated me. It wouldn’t have.” She continued after a moment, swallowing thickly as her eyes slowly drifted up to meet her husband’s. “I accepted because I saw it as a way to hurt his family the way his father hurt mine.” She clarified, her gaze finding Roxanne’s once more. 

“Sure, his father may not have cared if he lived or died, but his mother and his siblings…” Elaehna trailed off with a small shrug before immediately going on, “It would have hit them just like my father's death hit me and my mother. I'd get to make them suffer just like I did, and I would _still_ get my war.” She swallowed thickly as soon as the words died, guilt tainting her expression. When she continued, her voice was so soft that Roxanne had a hard time hearing her, “I was planning on killing him on a division broadcast, igniting his citizens until they demanded their leader step up and finish the war he started. No matter what, I was determined to have my war one way or another.”

Roxanne swallowed at the statement as she quickly glanced between the two aliens. It was obvious that Elaehna felt guilty about everything she’d planned now, but how long had it taken her to realize what she’d almost done? 

“Did you know, when you were sent over here?” Roxanne questioned as she met Drae’s eyes. There’s no way that he still would have gone if he knew why his father was really sending him to an enemy branch, or at least she hoped that he would have had a little more self-preservation than that. 

“I was young, but I had my suspicions,” Drae answered, only pausing for a moment before he went on, “I was only twelve when I got here, and although I wasn’t exactly happy about the situation, I was fairly eager to please. Which only made it that much more confusing when she hated me the second she saw me.” He gave Elaehna a pointed look as the words died in the air, earning a grimace from the woman as she hunched in on herself slightly.

Drae let out a soft hum at his wife’s response before continuing almost impartially, “Luckily I was still a child, too young to get married, so the whole arrangement was more like moving schools in the beginning.” He paused for a moment, seeming to mull over his words before he looked over at his wife again, “Granted, I was a little disheartened when you never visited or tried to get to know me during those two years.” 

Elaehna let out a long sigh at his words, slowly pulling her head back up to meet his eyes before she admitted, “I was going to kill you. Getting to know you would have been foolish.”

Roxanne watched as Drae narrowed his eyes at her words, his mouth pressing into a thin line. She couldn’t help but feel awkward sitting there as they told her their story, she had a distinct feeling that this specific topic was something that they avoided, and she could tell that it was a sensitive topic for both of them.

It took a moment for Drae to pull his gaze back over to Roxanne, his expression softening as he went on, “For two years she basically turned me into a celebrity. I was on the division broadcasts every other week, giving my own branch updates on myself and on the alliance. It was genius, really. My branch never even knew me when I lived there, but as soon as I got here she turned me into a fan favorite among my old people.”

“Why?” Roxanne questioned, her eyebrows drawing together as she tapped her fingers against her mug.

“To spike even more rage when I killed him,” Elaehna answered a half-second later, looking over at her as she went on, “If they were attached to him, if they saw him as their hero, the man who saved them from war… they would be even more enraged when I killed him in front of them.” Roxanne swallowed at the answer, suddenly thankful that her situation with Megamind was so mundane by comparison. At least she could rest safe in the knowledge that he wasn’t secretly planning her public execution. 

“The day after I turned fourteen she kidnapped me, and so began our courtship,” Drae spoke up, and Roxanne looked over at him as he went on, “She played it up in front of the cameras, made every little thing we did look like it tumbled from the pages of a trashy romance novel; but behind closed doors, oh Goddess, it was something else.” He shook his head as he turned his sights back on his wife, “What was it that you always used to say to me when we were alone?” Roxane watched Elaehna practically shrink at the question, a wince etching into her face. “Oh yes, that’s right; _I don’t understand why you’re scared right now, you should be scared when people are looking. I’m not going to kill you unless there’s a camera watching_.” 

Roxanne balked at the words he said as he attempted to imitate his wife. Glancing between the two of them for a long moment before she finally decided to ask the question that she’d wanted to ask ever since she heard that Drae was initially meant to be some kind of penance sacrifice. “And what exactly changed to make this a reality?”

“He wasn’t his father. And when I did start courting him, and I did get to know pieces of him…” Elaehna trailed off, staring at her husband for a moment before she finished, “He was a charming young man. Kind, gentle, soft-spoken.” Elaehna pulled her gaze back to the countertop and let out a soft sigh before quietly admitting, “He was everything that I’d destroyed in myself.” 

“I’d meant to kill him four separate times during our courtship, but each time he caught me off guard enough to make me second guess. Whether it was helping Azkoth hatchlings into the water, or watching a lost child until her parents found her, or demanding that we take a wounded Evyt to a rehabilitation center, or being so ridiculously amazed with a meteor shower that I was just stunned,” Elaehna recounted, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she traced an invisible pattern across the countertop with an idle finger, allowing the silence that followed to linger for a moment.

“And then the proposal day came, and I knew from a previous admission that she intended for her ‘proposal’ to be a death sentence…” Drae spoke up, taking over the story from his wife. “So, I attempted to take my own life.” The simple, succinct way he made the statement caught Roxanne off guard, and for a half-second, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d heard him correctly. “If I killed myself, then everything could be written off as a tragedy. But if she killed me…” He trailed off, his lips pursing into a thin line before he finished, his voice a few notches lower, “How many would have died in a war to avenge a dead man?” 

Drae's question rang in the air for a second before Elaehna spoke up, “Unfortunately, I’d already rescinded my decision to kill him that day. I didn’t have it in me anymore, so I told myself that I’d push it off until our wedding day. I knew I was stalling… but I just… didn’t _want_ to kill him anymore.” 

“I brought him my marriage proposal, only to find him bleeding out on the floor,” Elaehna muttered softly, and Roxanne couldn’t help but wince at the visual image. “I panicked, called a medic and got him to the hospital where he was kept in a medically induced coma for a day and a half while they stabilized his blood levels and patched up his wrists. And that’s when I realized how much almost losing him scared me.” She trailed off for a long moment as the words died in the air, gazing almost blankly at the mug in her hands before she finally found her voice again, “The whole experience kind of… forced me to accept that despite my best efforts not to, I had fallen in love with him.”

Roxanne let the silence lapse on as the quiet admission faded. And as the seconds ticked by without any further input from the woman, her husband decided to speak up, “When I woke up and realized I was alive, I was terrified.” Something dark entered his voice as he added a simple, “I’d failed. I was going to be the cause of pointless bloodshed.” 

Drae let out a soft humming sound at the memory, his dark expression fading slightly before he continued, “A few hours later Elaehna came in and screamed at me about being stupid, and reckless, and scaring her half to death. When I called her out on the bullshit of being scared for my own wellbeing when we both knew she needed a martyr for her war she said; _I don’t want a war you idiot, I just want you_. And then she threw her marriage proposal on the bed and stomped off.”

“I didn’t see her for three days until I’d been released from the hospital, and passed a psychological evaluation. And even then, I had to hunt her down to find her,” Drae added tapping his fingers lightly against the countertop as his eyes flicked over to meet his wife’s. 

“He accused me of playing some sick joke on him, and I deserved it. I know I did,” Elaehna said, remorse dripping from her tone. “So I told him that he didn’t have to accept, that he could stay at my branch and live out the rest of his days in peace; but he demanded to be granted charter back home, so I sent him back.” A frown etched into her face as she finished, her shoulders tensing slightly at the thought.

“My mother was happy to see me, but my father was enraged,” Drae admitted, something almost mournful tainting his voice. “I know he never really liked me all that much, especially compared to my older siblings, but I never expected to be told that I wasn’t welcome at my own branch. He made it quite clear that I was never to step foot onto Latarum land unless I was coming as a dignitary from the Cerau branch. He even called Elaehna right in front of me and demanded to know what I was doing back home.” He paused to huff out a bitter laugh, the corners of his mouth twisting down with the sound. “Needless to say, I willingly took the next charter back to the Cerau branch.” 

“Once I realized that this was my home I filed the transfer paperwork and moved to a different city. I took a few years to myself to get to know who I was, and what I wanted out of life; and then, when I was eighteen, I went back to the capital city and kidnapped Elaehna,” Drae continued, a mischievous smirk growing on his face, and once again Roxanne was reminded of how eerily similar Megamind and his father looked. 

“She was enraged, until I told her that I wanted to marry her. I explained that together we could screw my father over. His people loved me, my oldest sibling was my best friend, and any children we had would have a claim to Latarum leadership.” He rambled off the bonuses with ease, and it took a moment for the simple fact that Megamind was technically an heir to two different thrones to settle in.

“I asked him if he loved me, because I still loved him. And I was a little hurt when he told me that I was lucky that he didn’t hate me after everything I’d put him through. But he was right. I should be happy if all I ever had was his indifference,” Elaehna explained, letting out a long breath before she went on, “So I agreed, because I was weak and I was going to greedily take whatever he’d give me.” 

“So, we went through our second courtship and then we married.” She continued simply, a wicked smile pulling at her lips as she continued, “It was wonderful watching his father fume throughout the entire ceremony.” Drae chuckled at the statement, a wide grin filling his face as those strange alien harmonics filled the room. “By the time Megs came along we’d already been married for a decade, and I think that despite the very rough start…” Elaehna trailed off, pulling one of her hands from her mug and laying it on the countertop palm up before finishing, “Things turned out for the best in the long run.” The words sounded a bit like a question, even though Roxanne could tell that she hadn’t meant for them too.

She watched as Drae smiled at the words, his eyes flitting down to his wife's hand before he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her hand, nestling their palms together and pulling a soft smile from the woman. "I thought my world was ending when Elaehna kidnapped me that first time, but here I am forty years later and I've never been happier." He quipped, his tone sounded genuine, but the sly smirk he shot at his wife made Roxanne question whether or not she really understood what he was trying to say.

"Lies,” Elaehna retorted, narrowing her eyes at him as she leaned in over the counter before hissing another accusation, "Flattery." 

Drae’s smile grew at the words, the skin around his eyes crinkling as his wife’s expression grew even more suspicious; and dear God, it was a little terrifying seeing both of them like that. One of them almost the exact physical replica of her fiancè, and the other almost the exact personality replica of him. "I see where Megs gets it now.” Roxanne quipped, pulling their attention over to her as a moment of silence lapsed on. For a second she wondered if attempting a joke had been the wrong thing to do, but then another wave of loud laughter filled the air.

It took a moment for them both to compose themselves after that, pulling their hands back to their sides before Drae’s eyes lingered on the mug in her hands a moment before he turned back towards the cupboards. 

"Tell us about yourself, my dear,” Elaehna requested, offering her a warm smile before taking a long sip of her drink.

"Me?" Roxanne chuckled, shaking her head before quickly offering a simple, "I'm boring." 

"Nonsense,” Elaehna replied, shaking her head as she gestured for Roxanne to go on. 

She drew in a long breath as she watched Drae turn back around with the once forgotten bowl of fruit in hand before sliding it in front of her. "Well, I'm thirty. I was born in Lansing Michigan, I attended Michigan State where I got my Bachelor's in Journalism and Media Studies. After that, I got an internship with the KMCP in Metro City. The internship turned into a full-time position and now I'm the lead investigative reporter." 

"We weren't asking for your rap sheet, little one. We already know all of that,” Drae spoke up a moment later, and once again Roxanne found herself wondering if she should be concerned about how much they already knew about her life. Had Megamind told them everything they knew about her? Or had they done their own independent research? "What are your hobbies?" He questioned curiously, and suddenly Roxanne found herself scrambling for an answer.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have hobbies. She did. Or at least she used to back when she had free time. It was that she’d abandoned most of her unique hobbies with adulthood, and she just couldn’t tell his parents about boring hobbies like binge watching her favorite shows on Netflix. 

"I enjoy reading. I have a small handful of friends that I visit." She began, silently wondering if two friends really counted as a _small handful_ , especially since those friends were a couple. "I like plants but I kill everything I touch." She continued, offering a lame shrug with the statement that managed to draw a small chuckle from the two aliens. She knew that she hadn’t exactly listed a lot of things, but she was already running out of hobbies.

"I actually work close to twelve hours a day, and between work and daily household chores I just don't have much time for any other hobbies." She admitted. It was the truth. She worked so much, and then she was so exhausted from work that by the time she got home at night she just wanted to eat dinner, watch a show, and collapse into her bed. She grabbed the fork protruding from the bowl of fruit and pushed a few pieces around before quickly changing the subject, "Are these from earth?"

"No. These are native to our home planet," Drae answered a moment later, watching as she pushed the lime green, light blue, and soft pink chunks of fruit around with her fork.

"Are they safe?" She questioned curiously. It wasn’t that she thought that they would purposely poison her or something, but she could understand if the simple fact that she was a human slipped their minds. Hell, sometimes it was unnervingly easy for her to slot Megamind in the human category.

"Yes, little one,” Drae chuckled, “There are only a handful of foods from our home planet that you can't eat, these are not them." 

For a moment Roxanne wondered how they’d figured out what foods humans could eat, her mind conjuring up one or two wild instances of human abduction before she shook the images away. It wasn’t like she was the first human to spend any significant amount of time with the aliens, there had been sixteen human/alien marriages before she’d even learned that her name would be in the raffle pot. It had been nearly six months since they settled on Earth. Of course they knew a thing or two about their human neighbors by now.

Roxanne popped one of the lime green chunks of fruit in her mouth and paused mid-chew. Their fruit was sweet. Almost unbearably sweet. Honestly, it reminded her of candy. It was a little hard to get past the sweetness, but once she did the actual flavor reminded her of some kind of orange and kiwi smoothie. It was certainly different, and she honestly wasn’t sure if she liked it or not.

"May I ask what Megs has told you?” Elaehna questioned a moment later, breaking the quiet and pulling Roxanne’s attention back to the woman at her side. “Just so that way I know what we need to fill you in on?" She clarified a moment later.

Roxanne quickly nodded, swallowing the fruit and taking a sip of her tea to wash the sweetness out of her mouth before she answered, "He's told me a lot of general culture stuff. He's shown me his work. He's…" She trailed off prematurely, drumming her fingers lightly against the side of her mug as she decided that trying to downplay the severity of the situation wasn’t exactly necessary with his parents. "He's told me about the political intricacies surrounding our arranged marriage, and the potential repercussions should it fall through."

As if on cue, the mood of the room darkened slightly. Elaehna pursed her lips into a thin line and nodded once at the statement before her soft voice filled the silence, "He's told you a great deal more than I expected then…"

"I know about the whole voluntary manslaughter thing,” Roxanne blurted out before she could think better of it, swallowing thickly when both Elaehna and Drae quickly looked over at her with tightly controlled expressions. "He showed me the footage." She added a moment later, nervousness filling her when a long moment passed with no response from either of them.

"And?" Elaehna questioned expectantly, staring her down with an unnervingly neutral expression.

"And what?"

"Do you intend to go running for the hills now that you know he's taken a life?" She questioned expectantly, lifting a single eyebrow as she stared Roxanne down almost critically.

Roxanne took a moment to mull over the question before answering, "No. After seeing the footage I personally agree with his actions." She could tell that it had been a mistake on his part, he’d never meant to kill anyone. Besides, if she ever found herself in a position like the one that woman had been in she would have hoped that someone would have stopped it. 

Elaehna nodded at her answer, seemingly appeased as she took a long sip of her tea. "I'm surprised he told you so much." She admitted quietly, letting out a soft sigh before adding, "It certainly makes my job easier." A long beat of silence filled the room before she met Roxanne’s eyes again, offering her a warm, motherly smile before she spoke, "We've already talked with him quite extensively regarding your marriage. I assure you, you'll be treated well."

Roxanne could tell that the words were supposed to reassure her, but honestly, all they did was make her wonder why Elaehna felt like the reassurance was necessary. She felt like she knew Megamind well enough at this point to know that he wouldn’t hurt her or try to force her to do anything she didn’t want to.

"Everyone involved understands that you might not love each other when you get married, and everyone involved understands that the marriage will proceed regardless of that. Yes?” Elaehna questioned, expectation dripping from the last word.

Roxanne swallowed at the question. She’d already told Megamind that she’d marry him no matter what. She understood the possible fallout if she said no, and really, she had no intention of betting the lives of millions of innocent people over whether or not she loved someone. It wasn’t the question that brought the hurt she’d managed to contain welling back up to the surface, it was the statement Elaehna had made before it.

_You might not love each other._

_I’m already in love with you._

Jesus. Why did everything have to be so fucking messy?

“Yes,” Roxanne breathed a moment later, part of her worried that if she spoke any louder her voice might crack.

“And you are aware that it is _physically impossible_ for you to conceive under normal circumstances?” Elaehna asked a moment later, pulling a suspicious look from the reporter. 

“I am,” Roxanne answered slowly, silently wondering what kind of birds and bees talk his mother was getting at. Honestly… she was a grown woman, and she really didn’t need to have the mechanics explained. It wasn’t like she had no experience here. _Maybe she’s trying to warn you that he’s not human._ A nagging voice in the back of her mind chided before she shook the thought away. Megamind was certainly human enough that she didn’t need to go imagining what was in his pants. Chances were that he was just another normal guy.

“The only time that you’ll ever be expected to have sex with him is on the wedding night,” Elaehna stated simply, the words coming out in a bit of a rush, almost like she knew the topic at hand was uncomfortable and she just wanted to get it over with. “In our culture, the marriage isn’t finalized until you two consummate it, and I do believe it works similarly in yours?”

“It does,” Roxanne answered, even though that was a bit of an archaic way to look at it. It wasn’t like a couple wasn’t married if they didn’t have sex on their wedding night.

“But after that night, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Elaehna quickly explained, drawing a breath before she added, “He’s been well informed that there may not be a second time, and he’s been told several times not to push his luck. And if he ever does try to persuade you, or if he ever gets a little handsy, just let me know and I’ll beat him within an inch of his life.” She finished with a smile, her tone a little too upbeat for someone who just threatened their own child's wellbeing. 

“What?” Roxanne questioned, a hint of worry leaking into her tone. Sure, Megamind laid it on a little thick with the flirting sometimes, but he seemed to understand and respect boundaries, at least for the most part. She doubted that she’d ever have a problem with him in those regards, and even if she did, she’d rather talk to him about it than set his mother’s wrath loose on him.

“Joking, darling,” Elaehna chuckled, waving the shocked question away. “Well… kind of joking.” She added a moment later, her voice sobering up a bit. “Sorry about that unpleasantness, I just thought it might be best to get it over with.” She stated, her tone apologetic as she reached over and gently patted Roxanne’s forearm.

“It’s fine,” Roxanne managed a moment later, because what else was she supposed to say to her soon to be alien queen mother in law who just threatened to beat her own son half to death on her cue?

“So, what do you think your parents are putting him through?” Elaehna questioned curiously, almost sending Roxanne into a minor panic attack without even realizing it.

“Oh God…” Roxanne groaned, burying her face in her hands as she silently wondered how long it would take Megamind to join forces with her mother. Because that’s just what she needed, the two of them working in cahoots. “My mom is probably demanding to help plan the wedding and giving him a list of fifty names for her grandchildren. My dad is probably stonewalling him. Either that or giving him the stink eye and asking why I’m not with him.” The thought made her smile, at least maybe her dad would be able to keep the two of them in check. Though she did feel a bit bad for Megamind, he really had no idea what he was getting himself into with her father. 

“My mom probably loves him because he’s saving me from becoming a lonely spinster with twenty cats; and before the day is over she will have showed him all of my embarrassing baby pictures, and baby videos, and told him about every embarrassing thing I did when I was a kid,” Roxanne muttered, pulling her hands from her face as she shook her head at the thought. She really didn’t need Megmaind to know that she’d had braces for three years when she was a teenager, or that she went through that choppy bangs phase in middle school, or that as a child she called cactuses ‘poke trees’.

Elaehna laughed at her answer, a bright, melodic sound that echoed through the room as Drae’s deeper chuckle rumbled beneath it. “Well, I have plenty of embarrassing baby pictures and stories of him as well.” She offered warmly, giving her a wide smile. 

“And we don’t intend to put you through the ringer, little one,” Drae offered a moment later, giving her a warm smile before adding, "We’re just thankful you’re here.”

Roxanne couldn't help but smile at the simple statement, tucking one of the longer strands of her hair back behind her ear as she tried to think of a proper response. Before she had a chance to offer her own sentiment, Elaehna’s voice was breaking the quiet, “I’ll go get the photo album.”

She hadn’t even finished speaking before she stood up and started out of the room, drawing another smile from the reporter. At least Megamind wouldn’t be the only one out of the two of them to learn about the others embarrassing past. 

“She likes you,” Drae offered as soon and Elaehna rounded the corner of the hallway and disappeared out of sight, drawing Roxanne’s attention back over to him as he continued, “Which is good because you _do not_ want to be on that woman’s bad side, believe me.”

Roxanne couldn’t help but laugh at the statement, shaking her head as she spoke up, “Truly the words of a married man.” Drae chuckled at the statement, but as soon as the sound died the room was cast back into silence. She must have sat there in silence for almost half a minute before she finally spoke up again, “Can I tell you something without it getting weird?”

Drae looked taken aback by the question for a moment, but he reigned in his surprise a moment later before conspiratorially answering, “No promises, but I’ll try not to make it weird.”

Roxanne nodded at his answer, her eyes quickly scanning his face for any signs of judgement and coming up short. She drew in a long breath before quietly admitting, “Megamind told me that he loves me yesterday, and then he ghosted me for the rest of the night and I don’t know what to make of anything anymore.” She let out a long groan as soon as she finished, running a hand through her hair before she asked, “He couldn’t have meant it, right? He’d only known me for like, thirty six hours.” 

“Well, I mean…” Drae began before trailing off, an almost thoughtful expression on his face as he drummed his fingertips against the countertop. “I wouldn’t blame him if he did mean it. You do seem like quite the enchantress.” He explained, offering her a mischievous smile that made her bark out a laugh.

“Oh God, you even sound like him,” Roxanne stated, shaking her head as she scrubbed a hand over her face. 

“What can I say? He _is_ my son,” Drae chuckled, lifting a hand to his chest before suavely continuing, “It’s like if you mixed my charming good looks with my wife’s spitfire personality.” Roxanne let out a long peal of laughter at the quip, taking a long moment to get her composure back before she finally met his gaze again.

His playful smile faded after a moment, another thoughtful look dancing across his features before he spoke, his voice serious, "I wouldn't be horribly surprised if he was telling you the truth." He shrugged as the statement died, his lips pressing into a thin line before he added, "He had his heart broken many years ago, and when it happened he only pushed himself deeper into isolation,” Drae swallowed at the admission, taking a moment to himself before going on, "And I would understand him falling for you so quickly if you two connected on some level.”

“You're safe. You're guaranteed. Which means, he can allow himself to feel without fear,” Drae explained gently, offering her a small smile before finishing, "You'll have to ask him yourself though." 

"Right,” Roxane scoffed, rolling her eyes as she took a long drink of her now cold tea. "If I ever see him again…" 

Drae’s serious expression faltered at the statement, a wide grin slowly spreading across his face as he stared down at her. "Do you like him?" The question sounded almost scandalized, like he was a little kid who just found out their best friend had a crush on the boy that pulled her hair during recess. 

"What?" Roxanne laughed, shaking her head as she silently prayed that he didn’t notice the heat spreading across her cheeks. 

"Well I mean…” Drae trailed off for a moment, leaning in over the counter as he braced his weight on his forearms, “You seemed a bit sad right then."

"I…" Roxanne stumbled, pausing in favor of stuttering over her words, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before she firmly answered, "I don't know him well enough to determination." 

Drae lifted a single eyebrow at her words, his skeptical voice breaking the silence a second later. "Are you sure about that? Because you seem to know him better than most people these days."

The statement caught her off guard enough to make her pause. She’d only known him for three days now, how could she possibly know him better than most people? Chances were that any one of his citizens would know more about him than she did just because they’d watched him grow up, or they’d grown up with him. Just because he’d opened up a time or two didn’t mean that she knew him like an old friend. 

Before she had a chance to think of a response Elaehna’s voice was breaking the quiet, drawing Roxanne’s attention over to the woman and the four thick volumes cradled in her arms; "I hope your ready for the photography marathon of your life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wanna write the story of Megamind's parents falling in love from their own POV's.... Lord send help.


	8. Day Three - Part Two (Megamind)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, it's almost been a whole month since I posted a chapter. (I'm really sorry!) Life has been a bit insane and this chapter was a bit harder for me than normal, particularly because this one is from Megamind's POV. I have to say, I had a really hard time with his POV in the beginning and finally got the grasp of it towards the end. I went back through and smoothed out the beginning the best I could, but I apologize for any choppiness. 
> 
> Anyways, as always, a big thank you to my commenters! You guys are amazing and incredibly inspiring! Thank you so much! 
> 
> Now onto the chapter. Spoiler alert, Megamind's POV can literally be summed up with one GIF. 

Megamind let out a long breath as he stared at the Michigan Governor's Mansion. If you could even call the building a mansion. What was it with humans and their completely nonsensical naming systems? The word mansion implied several stories of towering grandeur, not the simple, single-story, sprawling building laid out before him. Sure, it was big. But really… they should call it the Michigan Governor’s _House_.

Megamind pushed the thought away a moment later, starting towards the front door with all the determination he could muster. It was just Roxanne’s parents, he really shouldn’t be worried, he already knew quite a bit about the pair. And yet that annoying, nagging feeling lingering in the back of his mind made his hearts beat a tick or two faster than they should have been. 

Philip Trevor Ritchi had been in office for six years, he was sixty-one years old, and a figurehead of the democratic party. He’d graduated with his masters in political science from Columbia University back in the early 1970s. He had four children, all with the same woman, his wife; Nicole Waverly Ritchi, formerly Nicole Waverly Libson. 

Misses Ritchi was 56 years old, and a notable figure in the No More anti-domestic violence organization. She’d also graduated from Columbia University with her bachelors in sociology in the late 1970s. She’d married Phillip in 1977, and nine months later they’d had their first child, Kirk Christopher Ritchi, now a married man with a wife and two children of his own. Roxanne was the second oldest in her family line, followed directly by her younger sister Leanne, and her little brother Oliver. 

He knew _everything_ that was public knowledge about the Ritchi family; yet for some reason, the nagging little feeling that he was trying desperately to ignore made him feel like he was missing some crucial piece of information and this whole thing was going to blow up in his face. That he’d say something wrong or do something wrong, and then suddenly the townsfolk would be gathering with their torches and pitchforks to chase the strange alien beast out of their city once and for all.

He shook the thought away with a rough sigh. Maybe he needed to lighten up on all the old human folklore stories he'd been reading recently… He drew in a long, calming breath as he stopped before the plain front door, lifting a hand and gently knocking on it. It took a moment for someone to open the door, and during that time he silently reminded himself that humans were fairly civilized, he’d likely be fine. Surely the people who raised his Roxanne would be a cut above society's norm. 

The front door swung open after a few lingering seconds, a tall, stocky man in what he could easily identify as a police uniform stood just behind it as his gruff voice broke the silence, “Can I help…” He trailed off abruptly the moment he turned his head to look at him, his eyes growing wide as a blatant look of shock and something that almost looked like fear etched its way onto his face.

_Odd._

Surely he was just reading it wrong. Why would a human fear him? It wasn’t like he cut a particularly intimidating figure, and besides, there was a tentative alliance in place.

Another beat of silence lapsed on before he decided to take control of the situation, offering the man a polite smile before simply stating, “I’m here to see Mister and Misses Ritchi.”

The man shook his head slightly at the words, opening and closing his mouth a few times in his best imitation of a fish before finally managing a simple, “And you are?”

“Mehkean Auris Cerau Urvai, first of his name,” Megamind answered, earning a confused look from the man that he practically expected at this point.

“Right…” The officer deadpanned, giving him another suspicious once over before stepping back slightly and pulling the door open further, beckoning him inside. 

Megamind glanced around the foyer as he stepped inside and the officer closed the door behind him; taking in the gold gilded crown molding, the polished wooden floor, and the glittering chandelier that hung from the ceiling. 

_Humans._

He didn’t particularly understand their innate desire for opulence, especially when there wasn’t enough to go around between all of them to begin with. 

Every other intelligent species he’d met or read about that relied on their social, pack-like structures always made sure that every member’s basic needs were being met before indulging in things that weren’t necessities. Even his species made sure everyone’s basic needs were being met; and they, like humans, were one of the rarer species that split off into smaller sub-packs consisting of a mating pair, offspring, and sometimes elderly parents. 

The officer stepped past him a few seconds later, pulling him from his train of thought as he gave him a gruff instruction to 'stay where he was' that had him rolling his eyes.

_Territorial little creatures._

They didn’t even have biological reasons like mating seasons to blame their territorial hostility on, they were just like that all the time. Thank Ameria that at least Roxanne was more enlightened than her other human counterparts. 

He watched as the officer stepped through a set of open double doors to the right, his footsteps receding slightly before two muffled voices carried through the air. A chairs wooden legs scraped against the floor a moment later before the sound of two pairs of footsteps approaching reverberated through the floor. 

He recognized Nicole Ritchi the moment she stepped into the room, he’d seen plenty of pictures of her before. “May I help you?” She questioned, a conversational smile plastered on her face as she approached him, the officer a few steps behind her.

Megamind swallowed at the question. She should have known who he was and that he was coming today. He’d told the director of human communications to handle setting up the meeting for him, but now he was wondering if his request had been tossed to the side of some bureaucrats desk and promptly ignored. He should have just done it himself, but he’d been so busy getting speeches prepared for tomorrow and setting up the logistics of the date he was going to take Roxanne on in three days. 

“Did my people never get in contact with your people?” Megamind questioned as she came to a stop in front of him, watching as a small furrow of confusion wrinkled her brow for a moment.

“Oh.” The soft noise of understanding broke the quiet a moment before she explained, “My husband got a really weird email but it wasn’t in any language our translators knew. He thought it was a prank.”

“Ah,” Megamind deadpanned, silently cursing the person who didn’t have the common fucking sense to send an email meant for humans in America in English. “Well that’s what I get for not doing it myself I suppose.” He muttered mostly to himself, silently making a mental note to find the time to speak with the director about the incompetence in his office. “My name is Mehkean,” Megamind began, fixing Misses Ritchi with a smile as he lifted a hand out towards her. “I’m engaged to marry your daughter.”

“Oh my-” Misses Ritchi came to a sudden stop, a strange, almost started laugh escaping her before she reached out and shook his hand. Was he doing this wrong? He thought he'd properly researched the human intricacies of meeting a partners parents, but now that he was here and Roxanne's mother was acting so… well, stiff; he couldn't help but wonder if he'd come woefully unprepared for the encounter. 

“I was wondering when I’d get to meet you!” She added a moment later, her voice evening out from the shocked tone it held before. “So, what do I owe this visit to?” She questioned, pulling her hand away as she gave him a smile that was just a little too tight around the edges. She looked worried. Anxious.

Perhaps she was worried about Roxanne? He supposed that could make sense, he hadn’t exactly earned her family's trust yet. “It’s part of my species traditional courtship ritual that we spend a day with our potential partners' parents,” Megamind answered a moment later, his smile fading slightly as he realized how odd that probably sounded from a human perspective. Sure, humans met their partners' parents too, but from what he’d read, it was usually after a few months of courtship and the meeting was done with _both_ partners present. “It probably seems a bit odd to you…” He trailed off a moment later, a nervous chuckle escaping him as he quickly tried to come up with a way to salvage the situation.

“Nonsense,” Nicole waved away his words with a hand, her smile growing more assured as she wrapped a hand around his shoulder and tugged him towards the entryway she’d emerged from a few moments ago. “It’s nice of you to take the initiative.” She added as she pulled him past the doorway and into a dining room. 

Floor to ceiling wood and glass cabinets covered the walls, most of them filled with a strange assortment of dishware. Were they putting it on display instead of using it? What was the purpose of that? He didn’t have long to ponder the reasoning, if there even was any reasoning involved, before Misses Ritchi’s enthusiastic voice was breaking the quiet. “Philip! This is Mehkean. He’s your future son in law.”

Her bright voice pulled his attention away from the dishware proudly displayed in the shelves and over to the eight-person table; or more specifically, to the man sitting at the far end of said table. Mister Ritchi was hidden from sight behind a newspaper, only his silver hair visible from behind the top of the paper shield. A mug of steaming coffee sat beside a half-eaten plate of those fluffy carbohydrate based things. What did humans call them again? For a moment his brain supplied the word _pancakes_ , but pancakes didn’t have that strange grid pattern, did they?

“My…” The single word was tainted with confusion as Philip lowered his paper, his eyes meeting Megamind’s a moment before he trailed off abruptly; a look of shock, and then understanding washing over his face. “Ah…” He added, his sky blue eyes flicking over Megamind’s form quickly before flitting to his wife and making a quick pass over the room. 

“Where’s Roxanne?” He questioned expectantly a half-second later, fixing him with an unwavering gaze as he waited for his answer. 

“She’s spending the day with my parents,” Megamind answered immediately, earning a slightly suspicious look from the man as he raised a single eyebrow. 

“So she’s not here?” Mister Ritchi pressed, something expectant in his tone as he tapped his fingers against the glossy wooden tabletop, sending sharp, staccato noises echoing through the room. 

Megamind blinked a few times as he tried to figure out what part of, _she’s with my parents_ , didn’t mean _she’s not here_. Honestly, it seemed pretty self-explanatory. “No.” He answered a moment later, drawing the word out longer than necessary. If he hadn’t understood the implications of his first answer then perhaps he needed a little more… guidance, than Megamind expected.

Clearly, Roxanne had inherited her wits from her mother. Because her father seemed to be a bit on the… dull side.

An awkward beat of silence lingered for a moment before Misses Ritchi cleared her throat pointedly, her bright, almost overly enthusiastic voice breaking the quiet. “Sit down!” She offered as she pulled out the chair closest to him before wrapping a hand around his shoulder and all but shoving him down into the seat. Megamind let out a startled, strangled noise at the sudden contact; doing his best to remember that batting the unwanted hand away would be far from diplomatic or composed.

Seriously though, why did humans seem to think that touching near strangers was alright? Where were the personal boundaries? How much physical contact did they expect him to endure with a smile?

_Humans._

They were going to be the death of him.

“Are you hungry?” Misses Ritchi asked, her overly bright tone still firmly in place. She didn't give him a chance to respond before she was grabbing a plate from the small stack in the center of the table before setting it down in front of him. She grabbed the fork that was shoved between the layers of a small stack of those golden brown disks, impaling a few roughly before slapping them down on the plate in front of him. “Here, have some waffles. Philip makes the best ones in the city, I swear.” She rambled on as she grabbed a vial of dark brown liquid before pouring an obscene amount over the disks.

Megamind watched mutely as she replaced the vial before sitting down a seat away from him, urging him on with an oddly excited smile. The first thing that ran through his mind was the word _waffles_. That’s what the floppy, grid-shaped circles were called. And if they were as similar to pancakes as he believed, then she’d _literally_ just poured a river of sugar syrup on them. 

Goddess, how were humans still alive after eating this stuff regularly?

The second thing that came to mind was the simple fact that denying a humans offering of food was considered rude. It was almost a sort of peace offering among them - or so he believed - on top of being a social bonding ritual. 

And the third thing, the most important thing, that echoed in his mind was that he simply wasn’t designed for _this_ sort of food. He was primarily carnivorous, fish products were supposed to make up _sixty percent_ of his diet. Vegetables were supposed to make up twenty-five percent. Fruits were supposed to make up fifteen percent. And lastly, grains were only supposed to make up five percent of his daily diet.

He was an aquatic creature for Goddess sake, and oats, wheat, and barely certainly weren’t easy to find in the middle of the ocean.

He wasn’t designed to eat this much grain product in a whole _week_ , let alone a _single meal_.

And so he was faced with two options. Either turn down the human offering of food, and the symbolic gesture of peace and friendship that accompanied it; or eat the goop covered carb disks and spend the rest of his day retching up the contents of his stomach into whatever fluid containing vessel he could find in time. 

It was needless to say that both options were… lacking.

“I appreciate the offer, but it’s really not necessary,” Megamind offered with a smile before quickly adding, “I had an early breakfast on the way over.” Surely that would work, right? He had eaten almost an hour ago, he really didn’t need another meal until lunchtime, eating anything now would be a senseless waste of resources. 

“Nonsense,” Misses Ritchi answered immediately, waving his previous statement away with a hand as she went on, “You need to put some more meat on your bones, you’re really too small.”

_What._

_The._

_Fuck._

He blinked rapidly and shook his head slightly as he tried desperately to ignore the words. He was a damn Aveus for Ameria’s sake! He was _literally_ the _largest_ specimen his species had to offer. And to call him out on not meeting human aesthetic standards!

He knew that he was too thin, and too lanky, and too blue, and too big headed. He was _painfully_ aware. He didn’t need anyone reminding him. 

_Too small..._

He worked out! What else did they want from him?

When Megamind finally managed to find his voice again the only word that managed to escape was a single, “Pardon?”

Misses Ritchi opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a single word out her husband's voice was ringing through the room, “He’s an alien, Nicole. They’re just like that.” Every word was exasperated, and the statement only managed to draw a harsh glower from his wife.

“He is a growing boy, Philip.” She bit back, her tone hostile as she tapped her glossy red, manicured fingernails against the coffee mug cradled in her hands. “And he obviously needs an extra meal here or there.”

Megamind watched as Mister Ritchi rolled his eyes at her rebuttal, and honestly, sitting there in silence watching Roxanne’s parents bicker like frustrated teenagers was more than awkward enough for him to break the tense, brewing quiet with a simple, “I actually stopped growing six years ago.”

The simple admission immediately drew both of their wide-eyed gazes back over to him, and suddenly he found himself regretting that he’d said anything at all. “Only six years ago?” Mister Ritchi’s voice broke the quiet a half-second later, scrutinizing him through slightly narrowed eyes as he leaned in over the table. “How old are you?” The follow-up question was curious, and almost a little concerned.

Megamind drew in a long breath before he simply offered, “I’m twenty-six.” That didn’t sound too bad, did it? It was only a four-year gap between him and Roxanne, at least it was only a four-year gap as far as _they_ knew. 

Regardless of that though, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should tell them the truth. Not that he’d lied, he was twenty-six by his own species standards; but they were going to be allies soon, and once that happened the exchange of information would be much more fluid than it was now. How many years did he have before her parents found out about differences in life-span and old planetary sun cycles? Probably two if he was lucky. And when that happened he’d be the manipulative son-in-law who allowed them to believe that he was actually much closer to Roxanne’s age than he really was. 

Besides, what would be the harm in telling them? It wasn’t like they had the ability to break off his engagement to their daughter. “But that’s in my old planets years, and our cycle around the sun was a good deal longer than this planets' cycle,” Megamind explained over the short lapse of silence that filled the room. “If you're asking how old I am in comparison to _your_ solar cycle, I’m fifty-four.” 

The second his voice died Misses Ritchi spluttered a cough into her coffee mug, her eyes growing wide as she breathed a quiet, “What?”

“I’ve been alive for fifty-four _Earth_ years,” Megamind reiterated, the words coming a little slower this time. 

_Humans. They could be so slow sometimes._

Though he supposed he was being a bit hard on them. They’d only existed for a third of the time his species had. It wasn’t like they’d had as much time to adapt and evolve.

“You’re a bit old for Roxanne then, don’t you think?” Mister Ritchi questioned bluntly a half-second later, his stern, protective tone drawing Megamind’s gaze over to the opposite end of the table. 

The narrow-eyed gaze pointed at him made him stall for a second. “Well…” Megamind trailed off, doing his best to ignore the uneasy undercurrent that simmered just beneath his skin at Mister Ritchi’s glare. “Earth years aren’t a very good representation of our lifespans. Like I said, I’m _twenty-six_.” He reiterated, silently hoping that the statement would ease a little bit of the tension that he could practically feel rolling off of the man. 

“So you live longer than us,” Misses Ritchi’s soft voice stated, a hint of marvel tainting her tone.

“A bit longer, yes,” Megamind offered, giving her a small, soft smile that he desperately hoped came across as reassuring. 

"A bit?" Mister Ritchi’s cutting, blunt tone broke the quiet almost as quickly as Megamind’s voice died. 

Why was this such a big deal? He and Roxanne were both adults, old enough to consent or say no to things. And really, both physically and mentally they were about the same age for their own lifespans, sure, Roxanne was a bit older, but he really didn’t mind. Besides, she might even accept the anti-degeneration cell-therapy injections, and then the differences in their lifespans wouldn’t even exist. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just come out and tell humans that his species had all but invented a cure for mortality. How many wars would that start? 

There would be a war where they attempted to acquire the serum. If they won, which really would be unlikely, then there would be wars over who got the injections first. There would be wars over distribution, because they wouldn’t be able to synthesize enough of the stuff to give it to every human on this planet. Then there would be wars over resources because you can’t keep everyone alive forever _and_ continue to reproduce without draining your planet of everything it has to offer.

It was easier to simply keep that information on a need to know basis, so really, only the humans who settled down with his species would ever know, because they were the only ones who would ever have any sort of need for it. The risk for human abuse was just too steep otherwise. Of course he knew that the humans would figure it out eventually, they would notice when every human spouse of an Amerdea lived to be three or four hundred. There would eventually and inevitably be some fallout, but he was hoping that by the time that came to be his species would have been here long enough to solidify the alliance between them.

But for now, he’d have no choice but to simply let Roxanne’s parents draw their own conclusions regarding the differences between his natural lifespan and Roxanne’s.

"Our lifespans are roughly three to four times as long as a _typical_ human lifespan,” Megamind offered simply, giving a slight shrug with the words. They were going to figure that out eventually, and it wasn’t like he could change the truth of it. 

"Well, what does that mean for Roxanne?" Mister Ritchi questioned, his voice filled with expectation and concern. 

The question threw Megamind off for a moment. It was Roxanne’s choice whether or not she allowed the differences in their lifespans to affect her. He wasn’t going to force her to get cell-therapy injections, even if he really would like to have the ability to grow old with his mate, that decision was hers alone. Either she’d choose to get the injections, or she’d choose to age normally. And even if she did choose the latter, it didn’t mean that her life would be any worse. It just meant that he’d have to plan a funeral rather than trust it to their kids. It meant that he’d have to deal with an empty house once she was gone and the children had grown up. It meant that their grandchildren would only ever know her through pictures and stories. But none of that directly affected her. 

"It means, that even as she ages she'll always have someone who cares for her who is capable of taking care of her at any given stage of her life," Megamind answered after a long moment of internal deliberation. He wasn't fond of the thought of burying Roxanne in fifty years, but regardless, he had considered the contingency. 

"How poetic?" Misses Ritchi offered after a long, drawn-out pause; the words clipping into a question as she gave her husband a wary smile that was clearly trying, and failing, to be optimistic. 

Another lapse of silence lingered before Mister Ritchi’s gruff, dark tone broke the quiet, "Poetic."

As soon as the single, terse word died in the air, thick silence enveloped the room. Thankfully, Roxanne’s mother only let it linger for a few seconds before she cleared her throat quite pointedly and took a long sip of her coffee.

"Anyways,” She began almost as soon as she swallowed, "Tell me about yourself, dear." 

Megamind blinked at the question before he deadpanned, "Myself?"

"Mmm,” Misses Ritchi hummed in agreement, waving a hand through the air with a roll of her wrist as she explained, "You know; hobbies, friends, family."

He did know. And he also knew that he had almost no social life and nothing to really talk about. What was he even supposed to say to that?

Friends. 

_I only really had one friend until things got romantic and then serious between us before my mother ran her out of my life for the foreseeable future?_

Minyn didn’t count as a friend, at least not by human standards. Of course, his Mypsin was his friend, but human friends weren’t bound to each other the same way an Amerdea and a Mypsin were. 

Family. 

_I’ve actively avoided my mother for the last decade of my life, you know, ever since she destroyed my relationship with my first fiancée. I recently got out of house arrest because I accidentally killed a man, and ever since then I’ve only spoken with my mother in regards to politics and my upcoming marriage to your daughter. My father is fun to be around until he brings up the fact that I need to eventually try to mend the broken bridge with my mother._

Hobbies. 

_Remember how I mentioned how I was on house arrest because I killed someone? Great. Now I’m gonna explain how I literally threw myself at school because it was the only interaction I got to have with someone who wasn’t my Mypsin or my parents. Hey, at least I got two doctorates out of it. I've spent my whole life throwing myself at my work because it was the only thing that made me feel useful, and wanted, and seen as anything other than a murderer._

_At least it was the only thing that made me feel useful, and wanted, and seen as anything other than a murderer_ before _your daughter came into my life._

He couldn't say any of that though, so he chose to settle for a simple, "I work a bit too much to have time for hobbies, really." And thankfully that seemed to be all the input Misses Ritchi needed before she branched off-topic.

"Your mother already grooming you to take her spot?"

"Oh, no. Not really,” Megamind answered simply, shaking his head as he tried to ignore the sense of dread that question stirred up. He wasn’t prepared to lead a branch of people, half of whom he was fairly certain still hated him. And he really wasn’t ready to deal with his mother in such large doses yet. She’d ripped away the _one thing_ that made him forget about his situation, and how shitty he felt all the time when he was at his lowest and needed it the most. Sure, he understood that she did it for politics, but really, was it too much to ask that his personal life exist in a sphere that was entirely separated from politics? He swallowed thickly at the rhetorical question. He already knew the answer. His life would _always_ exist in a political sphere. "I'm sure that'll come in a year or two, but for now, I'm a scientist." 

"A scientist?" Misses Ritchi echoed, her voice dripping with curiosity. "What type?"

"I dabble in a lot of fields, but primarily, my focus has been on engineering." He answered, content with the subject change. Work, he could talk about. He loved his job.

"Did you hear that, Philip?” Misses Ritchi questioned, her tone leading as she added, “He's an _engineer_."

Megamind dared a quick glance over at the man, only to find the same pursed-lipped expression on his face that was clearly struggling to remain neutral. "Riveting." He responded, the single word calloused in a way that made it obvious that he wasn’t exactly happy with his daughters' fiancé. 

Thankfully, Misses Ritchi seemed bent on at least maintaining a semblance of normality, even if that meant carrying the bulk of the conversation on her own and leaving her husband out of it. "Have you worked on anything I'd know?" She questioned curiously, a polite smile curling the edges of her mouth. 

Megamind opened his mouth to respond, but a second before he found his voice Mister Ritchi's dull, almost patronizing tone was cutting him off, "He got to Earth six months ago, Nicole. I doubt he has any patents."

Misses Ritchi's pleasant smile faded as soon as her husband's words died, a harsh scowl etching into her face as she shot him an icy glare. Goddess, it even irked him to hear Mister Ritchi patronize his wife like that. It certainly wouldn't hurt the man to learn some respect for his partner. 

Megamind quickly glanced over at the man, giving him a tight-lipped smile as he quickly corrected, "I have _seventy-three_ patents _actually_ , I just didn't create them here on Earth." Mister Ritchi's cold expression faltered for a moment, his face shuddering into shock as Megamind quickly looked back over to Roxanne's mother. "And to answer your question, I was one of sixteen engineers who helped design the spaceships we came here in." He offered, his voice growing kinder as he addressed Misses Ritchi. 

She brightened at his response, seemingly forgetting about her husband's unnecessary statement as she offered a bright, "That's incredible!" Megamind chuckled at the enthusiastic response, silently hoping that she didn't notice how much the simple statement meant. It was nice to know that at least one of Roxanne's parents liked him.

"How have things with Roxanne been?" The curious inquiry broke the quiet a moment later, as if she was capable of reading his damn mind. 

Megamind did his best to quickly brush aside the surprise the question dredged up. He’d been expecting questions about Roxanne. He knew that her parents would want to know how she was doing. He just hadn’t expected the questions regarding how their relationship had been going to come up quite so soon.

"They've been good, I think,” Megamind offered after a moment of thought. Of course, things weren’t good _all_ of the time, but everyone had their rough patches. At least he and Roxanne seemed to be on good terms at the moment.

Or at least they _had_ been.

Before he’d gone and opened his stupid fucking mouth. 

Hell, for all he knew she hated him now, or thought he was some kind of freak, or just wanted him to stay away from her. But he didn’t know, because he was a coward who ran away the second he opened up about anything. 

Be it the fact that he was a _murderer_.

Or the fact that he was in _love_.

He’d _tried_ to run away when he’d told her the first part. 

He’d _succeeded_ in running away when he’d told her the second. 

"Now, now. You don't need to soften the truth for my sake,” Misses Ritchi joked, pulling him from his thoughts and back to the topic at hand. He quickly glanced over at her to find a playful smile plastered on her face, but he could tell that she was worried. It was obvious when he looked into her eyes. 

"It is the truth,” He stated seriously a moment later. He swallowed thickly as his eyes drifted down to the table, his voice growing softer as he rambled, "She's smart, insightful, brave." _Honest, bold, unapologetic, determined, strong._ He added silently before his train of thought derailed slightly. _Exotic, warm, soft._ He shook the words from his mind as he cleared his throat and continued, "I mean… she's also a bit nosey and she can have a very cruel tongue when she wants to, but overall, I'm…" He trailed off, tapping his fingers lightly against the wooden table as he caught his lower lip between his teeth and bit into it. 

_I’m in love with her._

"I'm quite fond of her,” He stated simply as he offered Misses Ritchi a quick smile. 

"She must be fond of you too, running off with you like that a few minutes after meeting you,” Mister Ritchi spoke up a half-second later, pulling Megamind’s attention over to him immediately. “It’s really not like her.” He added, his voice full of implication as he folded his arms on top of the table and leaned in over it.

"She…” Megamind trailed off with a nervous chuckle, shaking his head slightly as he fixed Roxanne’s father with an expression that he hoped looked confused; because in reality he was panicking. “What did she tell you, exactly?” 

Mister Ritchi let out a soft hum at the question, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Judging by your reaction, _not_ the truth.” 

Megamind swallowed at the statement, silently wondering what Roxanne had told her parents. Were there other lies that he was supposed to be playing along with that he didn’t know about. “Well I assure you, if Roxanne did lie to you she certainly wasn’t doing so because I pressured her to.” He offered a moment later, silently hoping that her parents wouldn’t try to blame him for every little thing she told them that turned out to be a falsity. 

Mister Ritchi simply let out a soft, unamused hum at the statement before his dark, icy voice broke the quiet; "May I ask how my daughter _did_ wind up on an alien spaceship in the middle of the Atlantic?"

"Well, you see…" Megamind trailed off, his mind racing as he tried to come up with something. Obviously, he’d already botched the whole, _she came with me willingly_ story. Which really only left him with the truth. And he knew that the truth wouldn’t exactly be… well received. 

"My species has a very structured and time-honored courtship ritual.” He explained, drawing in a deep breath as he desperately prayed that maybe they’d be able to let the whole kidnapping thing go if they knew that it had some sort of cultural significance. "And in order to begin said courtship ritual, one party, it doesn't matter which party, has to… kidnap, the other party." He finished, rambling in the beginning before rushing to get through the end, wincing as he said the word kidnap. 

He watched as Mister Ritchi’s face quickly flashed from icy indifference to suspicion to shock and then barely contained rage. It was… intimidating, to say the least. Not that he thought that he would lose a fight against the man, but really, he’d rather not get in a fight with his future father-in-law to begin with. 

"You _kidnapped_ my daughter?" Misses Ritchi’s concerned, almost hysterical voice broke the silence the second he finished speaking. Megamind flinched at the sound, grimacing at the question as he slowly turned to glance at Roxanne’s mother only to find a look of pure horror etched into her face. 

"Technically?" Megamind answered, his voice unsure as he managed to stumble his way through the single word. Misses Ritchi’s look of horror quickly hardened into anger at the answer, and Megamind quickly rushed to add, "Really though, there's no need to worry. It's par for the course.” Unfortunately, the words seemed to have no effect on either of their moods. Perhaps the pitchforks and torches were a more legitimate fear than he originally anticipated.

“I was very gentle with her,” Megamind added after a short lapse of silence, swallowing thickly before he weakly defended, “I mean, I didn't even let her touch the ground when I chloroformed her."

"Chloroform!" Mister Ritchi’s harsh, booming voice echoed against the dining room walls as Megamind forced himself not to shrink away from the sound. 

"Well, I assumed it would be the safest and most efficient way,” Megamind explained as he turned back to look at Roxanne’s father only to find the man leaning in over the table as though he’d like nothing more than jump over the piece of furniture and tackle him to the ground. “If she struggled she was bound to hurt herself.” He added defensively, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though Mister Ritchi saw the benefits that he had when he’d developed the plan. “She struggled when she woke up and wound up hurting herself, so obviously the theory was correct,” Megamind muttered, turning his gaze to the tabletop as he silently reminded himself that the plan had been _good_ , regardless of whatever her parents seemed to think of it. 

"Roxanne is hurt!" Misses Ritchi’s high-pitched, almost scared voice rang against the walls, snapping Megamind’s attention back over to the startled woman. 

"Oh no, not anymore,” Megamind soothed, lifting both of his hands in a placating gesture as he attempted to calm Roxanne’s mother down. “She healed up the same day, it was just a little rope burn after all." He explained, watching as her shoulders slumped slightly with relief at the same time that her eyes narrowed and her face screwed up into some expression that he wanted to call distaste.

"Rope… burn…" Mister Ritchi stated, the first word falling flat for a few seconds before he uttered the second one. Megamind glanced over at the man just in time to see his right eye twitch slightly as he drew in an abnormally long breath. Megamind almost flinched when he stood up, his chair legs scraping ominously against the floor as he quickly glanced between Megamind and his wife. "I think I need a moment. If you'll excuse me." He stated simply, his voice tightly controlled in a way that told Megamind that he’d already succeeded in pissing off Roxanne’s father for the foreseeable future. 

Megamind watched in silence as Mister Ritchi made his way out of the dining room stiffly, his footsteps heavy on the wooden floor as he disappeared out of sight behind the doorway. Was there something he should have done differently? He could have lied about everything. He was going to be a politician, if there was _one thing_ he knew how to do, it was tell a convincing lie. He’d told Roxanne’s parents the truth in an attempt to start their relationship out on the right foot, and look how well that turned out. 

Maybe he should have lied.

Sure, he’d have to deal with the fallout of those lies in a year or two, but in a year or two he’d be married and he might even have Roxanne to back him up. Right here and right now he was bitterly alone, and quite clearly digging himself into a hole that he wasn’t quite sure he’d be able to pull himself out of. 

Misses Ritchi let out a long sigh a moment after her husband disappeared from sight, her shoulders falling slightly as she stood up. Megamind half expected her to follow after him and leave him alone in her house, or possibly to call over the guard from earlier and ask that he be escorted from the property. 

Surprisingly, she did neither. 

She simply walked over to one of the lumbering wood and glass shelves lining the walls before pulling a well-oiled door panel open. He watched her hand disappeared into the shelf before it quickly reappeared with a massive glass bottle of clear liquid. She closed the door as soon as she’d retrieved the bottle, walking back over to her seat as she pulled the glass and cork lid from it before pouring a generous amount of the liquid into her coffee cup. 

Megamind wrinkled his nose the second the distinct smell of ethanol filled the room, harsh and acidic. He almost forgot that humans drank it for _fun_. Goddess, it was alarming how easily humans would drink mild poison just because they enjoyed the side effects. Not that he was unknown to a glass of wine every now and then since he came to Earth, but he never even wanted to try any of the harsher alcohols.

Misses Ritchi stopped pouring for a moment, her eyes drifting up to meet his for a half-second before she bit her lower lip, made a soft humming sound, and proceeded to pour another generous measure of the liquid into her mug. Megamind stared in silence as she filled the mug to the brim before quickly replacing the lid and setting the bottle down on the table beside her chair, the label on full display.

Vodka.

Eight-thirty in the morning seemed a bit early to start day drinking, but Megamind could tell that at this point it would be best to just keep his mouth shut. 

He watched in silence as Misses Ritchi took her seat again. She wrapped both of her hands around her mug before lifting it to her lips and taking a long sip of the drink as her eyes fluttered shut. As soon as she swallowed she let out a long sigh and leaned back into her seat, the tension in her body visibly seeping away.

At least a minute passed in silence like that, and just when Megamind was certain that she’d decided to ignore his presence entirely her eerily well-composed voice broke the thick quiet. "I'll admit I was hoping this meeting would be a bit more… normal."

Megamind winced slightly at the blunt statement. He wasn’t sure whether he should be worried over the damage he’d already done to his relationship with Roxanne’s parents, or if he should just be happy that her father hadn’t tried to kill him and her mother was still speaking to him. 

Small victories, he supposed.

"Look, I love my daughter, and I understand that this arrangement is important; and as long as I can be certain that Roxanne will be safe and reasonably happy, then I'm willing to overlook the… _cultural barrier_ , here,” Misses Ritchi offered as she placed her mug back down on the table and fixed him with one of those no-nonsense stares that Roxanne had _clearly_ inherited from her. 

"I…" Megamind trailed off, at a loss for words. He had to admit, that was certainly better than he’d been expecting at this point; and honestly, it was a little refreshing. It was nice to let all of the pretenses and expectations fall away for a moment and just come to the terms of an agreement. Really, if Megamind didn’t know better he’d suspect that Misses Ritchi was the politician in the family. 

"I can't guarantee her happiness,” Megamind explained softly. Honestly, he wasn’t sure that he was even _capable_ of making Roxanne happy. Sure, he’d made her laugh a time or two, but there was a distinct difference between making a funny joke and genuinely making a person happy to be in your presence. “But I can promise that as long as I can protect her from a threat, she'll always be safe." He added a moment later, his voice growing stronger with every word; at least he knew that he was capable of that much.

"Good,” Misses Ritchi responded, seemingly appeased with his agreement. Well, at least that was a weight off of his shoulders, the simple fact that he had an understanding with Roxanne’s mother. 

He watched as she took another long sip of her drink as she stared at him over the rim of her mug. A soft sigh escaping her as soon as she swallowed and went to set the vessel down. "To be completely honest, I’ve had mixed emotions about the whole thing ever since her name was called,” Misses Ritchi explained, her voice growing conversational once again. “I've wanted her to settle down for years now; find a nice young man who could set her on the straight and narrow.” She added, a huff of laughter escaping her as soon as she finished speaking, shaking her head as her eyes flicked down to the tabletop. 

Megamind couldn’t help but wonder what she meant by the statement. Roxanne was a great example of a strong, independent woman. She was the top reporter at the station, she never took shit from anyone but her boss, she was wildly successful for her age. What more did her mother want?

“But at the same time…” Misses Ritchi went on, her eyes quickly darting back up to meet his, “I want her to be happy. And I know she can technically say no, but… given the circumstances, I'm not sure that she _actually can_ say no."

Megamind winced slightly at her realization, guilt washing over him at the thought that he'd dragged Roxanne into his mess with no regard for how she or her family would feel about it. Was he evil? Goddess, he certainly felt a bit evil at the moment. 

"Not without a few unfortunate repercussions," Megamind answered quietly, watching as Misses Ritchi nodded at his words and gave the table a small, sad smile. 

"Exactly." She muttered softly, swallowing thickly as she dragged her eyes back up to meet his. "Does Roxanne seem happy?" The question was genuinely caring, and Megamind wished that he could say yes without a doubt. 

But he couldn't say yes without a doubt, so he settled for a meager, "I mean… sometimes." He was going to leave it at that, simple and succinct, but he could tell by the look on Misses Ritchi's face that she wanted to know more. She was genuinely curious and concerned about her daughter's wellbeing, and wouldn't it make him more evil if he refused to tell her the truth of the situation?

"We argue more than I'd like." The words escaped him in a rush, and Misses Ritchi's eyebrows pursed together at the quick statement. 

"About?" She pressed, bright-red fingernails tapping against the tabletop 

"Well… about me kidnapping her, obviously. Though I was expecting that one,” Megamind began, shrugging at the thought of their first argument. Really, that one had been inconsequential. "She called me a spaceman once, which, I mean, normally I wouldn't care. But she just said it so maliciously and it irked me so I called her an earth ape." He winced even at the retelling of that one."Not my proudest moment." He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck as he let out a soft sigh. That argument had been entirely avoidable if he’d just been more of an adult about it.

"And other than that, there was one other time, and really it was _my_ fault that last time,” Megamind began, swallowing thickly at the memory of the entirely one-sided fight he’d started last night. “I'd opened myself up to her a lot about something I'm a bit sensitive about and I couldn't tell how she was reacting and it ratcheted up my anxiety… I really just wanted to call it a day, drop her off at her suite and go home.” He explained, silently hoping that Roxanne’s mother would understand, or that at the very least she wouldn’t hate him for treating her daughter the way he had. “She didn't do anything wrong, she was actually being kind, and I… I snapped at her.” He admitted, a bit of shame leaking into his voice. Goddess, now that he was telling everything to a stranger it was so blatantly obvious that every single little thing that had gone wrong so far was entirely his fault. He could have prevented _all_ of it.

“I wasn’t even mad at her, I was mad at myself,” Megamind continued, drawing in a long breath and letting it out roughly. He took a moment to collect himself before he finished, “Needless to say, she’s more forgiving than I deserve.” 

_Far more forgiving than I deserve._

The small, strangled laugh that escaped Misses Ritchi caught him entirely off guard, and he was about to ask what was so funny when she spoke, “Of course she is, she’s obsessed with aliens.” Megamind tilted his head at the statement, he was well aware of the fascination Roxanne had; or at least the fascination that Roxanne _used_ to have. What he didn’t understand was how that correlated to her being forgiving in any way, shape, or form. 

“Ever since the day I took her to see the movie _Aliens_ , she was addicted,” Misses Ritchi explained, her voice dipping somewhere between conspiratorial and gossipy. "Every time a sci-fi movie came out we _had_ to see it. She bought every season she could of Star Trek, and Farscape, and Stargate, and more that I can’t remember the names of." She laughed at the thought, lifting her coffee mug to her lips and taking a large swig of it as Megamind quickly pieced two and two together. 

_Alcohol._

Roxanne’s mother was possibly feeling some side effects from her drink of choice.

"She even got to the point where she asked if we could visit NASA for the family vacation so we could ask them if aliens existed," Misses Ritchi rambled on, a hearty laugh tearing free from her throat before she leaned in over the table and stage whispered, "One time, she took my car on a joyride so she could go look at a crop circle."

Even Megamind couldn't help but chuckle at that one. Crop circles… a bit too arbitrary for his species to usually bother with, but the Osaet and the Encux were typical offenders. "Oh, that girl has it hard," Misses Ritchi added, her voice returning to a normal volume as she gave him a quick once over before seriously stating, "I'm surprised she hasn't thrown herself at you yet." 

Megamind let out a soft chuckle at the statement, swallowing down the strange mix of embarrassment and wistfulness those words dredged up. It was definitely best _not_ to get his hopes up. “Well, to be honest…" He trailed off, giving Roxanne's mother a lame shrug before he admitted, "I’ve been operating under the assumption that she might want a partner who’s more _human_ than me.” 

It hurt to think about, but it was a _very_ possible outcome. Sure, she'd told him that she'd say yes, and he did believe her; but her saying yes to marry him because of politics wasn't the same thing as her saying yes to marry him because she _wanted_ to. 

“She’s not going to throw this whole thing away. I’m sure she understands how important it is," Miss Ritchi offered a moment later, and Megamind couldn't help but swallow at the empty reassurance.

Sure, Roxanne wasn't going to throw their marriage away, but that didn't mean that any of it was going to be _real_. 

Not real for _her_ , at least. 

“Oh, well I meant…" Megamind trailed off, swallowing thickly at the thought of what he was about to say. "She might want a human partner even _after_ we’re married.” 

Misses Ritchi's expression quickly faded from humor to shock, and Megamind couldn't help but shrug at the reaction.

Yeah, it stung a bit, the knowledge that Roxanne may _never_ want _him_. But he couldn't… He'd basically forced her into a position where she didn't have any choice but to say yes. He was _painfully_ aware of that. 

And really, at the end of the day, the least he could do for her was allow her to live her life however she wanted when the cameras weren't rolling and the spotlight wasn't on them. Regardless of whether that meant always living in a separate suite, or if it meant looking the other way while she had fun with someone who could take care of her needs. 

She didn't choose _him_. She didn't choose _this_. And _unlike_ him, she could actually _be_ with someone else if she wanted to. 

“I mean… I would understand." He added softly, swallowing down the ever mounting disappointment and hurt welling up inside of himself. 

She'd already sacrificed enough. And if she didn't make it clear that she wanted him around, then he was simply going to do his best to stay out of her affairs. 

He owed her that much. 

"It’s not like humans are bound by monogamy like we are.” He added, a hint of bitterness leaking into his tone. 

He drew in a long breath between clenched teeth as he silently reminded himself that he should be happy that she was saying yes. 

Sometimes loving someone meant that you let them do whatever made them happy. 

Even if the thing that made them happy killed you a little bit inside. 

At least that's what he tried to tell himself.

He glanced back over at Roxanne's mother only to find a look of pity smeared across her face. Goddess, that certainly didn't make this any easier. He _really_ didn't need another reminder of how pathetic he was. 

What he needed was to be alone for a bit. To splash some cold water on his face. Maybe curl up into a ball on the floor and try not to hyperventilate for a minute or two. 

“May I ask where your restroom is?” He blurted out the question a half-second later, his mouth moving before his brain even realized what he needed. 

Misses Ritchi blinked at the question, her mouth falling open and then snapping shut before she finally seemed to find her voice, “Um… down the hall, second door on the right.” She pointed towards the entryway he'd come in originally, and he simply nodded as he stood up. 

“Thank you," Megamind offered with a tight smile and a quick nod of his head as he started towards the door. “Excuse me.” He added a half-second later as he all but ran out of the room, not even giving Misses Ritchi a chance to say anything in response. 

He just needed a moment alone. 

A moment to collect himself and attempt to smother his unrequited and unwanted feelings to death. 

He knew he wouldn't succeed.

But at least he'd be able to say that he'd tried.


	9. Day Three - Part Three (Roxanne)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait! I moved several states between posting the last chapter and posting this one, so that took up a good chunk of my time and energy.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me through the delay! 
> 
> And of course, thank you to everyone who left me a comment last chapter!

Roxanne stifled a laugh as Elaehna flipped past another page in the third photo album they’d combed through, her eyes lingering on a photo that was taken on what she assumed was some sort of family vacation. Elaehna and Drae were perched side by side on a hammock, pink sand rolling underfoot and towering red-leaved trees that looked more like supersized celery stalks than trees filtered the sunlight as a younger Megamind sat on the ground beside them. Her favorite thing about the picture though, was the scrunched up, twisted look of disgust painted across Megamind’s face as he watched his parents share a kiss. 

It was nice to know that the disgust young boys seemingly had in regards to the general idea of romance spanned species.

Roxanne quickly let her eyes drift over the other pictures lining the page. They all seemed to be vacation themed, the same pink sand beach sprawling out in nearly every direction in each one. Most of the pictures were family-themed; save for a picture of just Elaehna and Drae sitting side by side on the beach snuggled into each other as the sun set over the ocean, casting the water and sand with a golden glow; another picture of just Megamind cradling some strange sea animal that she could only describe as a mixture of a hermit crab and a starfish in his hands; and two landscape photos, one of which showcased the vast expanse of pink sand, the turquoise water, and some sort of beachside village in the distance, and the other taken at night time, the calm ocean waters reflecting the starry sky, their mint green and turquoise moon a crescent in the air, a drab brown planet hanging in the distance, their milky way smeared with bright magenta and mint colors. 

Their planet had been objectively beautiful, and Roxanne had to admit that she felt a bit bad that they were stuck somewhere that was as plain as Earth in comparison.

Elaehna continued to flip past page after page of pictures. Some of them were just of daily life. A few were of holidays. There were even a couple of news articles shoved here and there. It wasn’t until Megamind became a bit older in the pictures, around twelve if Roxanne had to guess, that they suddenly became less frequent. 

From that point on the pictures seemed to be focused around the few holidays that they celebrated, and even then when Megamind was in them he was… different. His smiles were forced and they never quite reached his eyes, his body looked tense, as though he was always prepared for some unseen assailant to attack at random, she wasn’t quite sure how to place it, but something in him had just gone cold. 

It took a moment for the dates to line up in her mind, but as soon as they did everything made perfect sense.

Twelve years old.

The same age Megamind had been when he’d nearly lost his life because he’d saved a woman from her attempted rapist. The same age he’d been when he’d been sentenced to fifteen years of house arrest. 

It was no wonder that something in him had gone cold.

Another page of the album flipped, and suddenly Roxanne found herself staring at a picture of a considerably older Megamind. He’d filled in a good deal; he was taller, broader, and it was obvious that whatever had gone cold in him had thawed out a bit. Though if she had to guess the thawing had less to do with his general acceptance of his situation, and more to do with the woman in the picture with him. 

His arm was wrapped around her waist, pulling her in tight against his side as she leaned up onto her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek. He was considerably younger in the picture than he was now; he wasn’t even sporting any facial hair yet, though Roxanne suspected that was probably because he chose to shave rather than that he was too young to actually grow any. The woman in the picture with him looked oddly familiar as well, Roxanne swore that she’d seen her somewhere before, but with the awkward angle of the photo, she couldn’t quite place her face. 

Really though, it wasn’t the picture itself that startled her so much as it was the dark, greedy, hungry feeling curdling in her gut at the sight of it. 

Roxanne did her best to swallow the unwanted feeling down where she could ignore it before she finally managed a simple, albeit slightly disgruntled, "They look happy."

Elaehna let out a soft sigh at the statement, pursing her lips into a thin line as she tapped her fingertips lightly against the page. "They were,” she offered a moment later, something almost melancholy tainting her tone. 

Roxanne chewed on her lower lip as she mulled over what little she did know about Megamind’s past love life. She knew that he’d only been in love once, at least according to Minyn, but that certainly didn’t mean that he hadn’t had multiple relationships before or after that. For all she knew the woman in the picture could have been some random, short-lived fling. Or, she could be the person he dated for what had effectively been four years. "What happened?" Roxanne pressed after a lingering second, silently hoping that Elaehna might be able to provide more information on the subject of previous relationships than Minyn had. 

Elaehna drew in a long breath as her question died, swallowing thickly before she bitterly explained, "I destroyed his happiness." She let out a rough sigh as soon as the words died, worrying her lower lip between her teeth as she stared down at the glossy photo. "Her name is Annier,” Elaehna offered a moment later, her gaze flicking up to meet Roxanne’s as she spoke.

Roxanne couldn’t help but wonder if the shock she felt at the new information was obvious on her face. " _The_ Annier?" She managed, watching as Elaehna simply nodded at her question.

 _Annier._ The woman that Megamind had saved from a predatory jackass. The woman that he almost lost his life over. The woman that called him her hero in front of a panel of judges and a handful of onlookers. The woman that cost him a decade and a half of his life. 

"After he turned fourteen and moved out they grew incredibly close,” Elaehna explained, the sour note in her tone disappearing as she spoke. Roxanne nodded mutely at the information, her eyes lingering on the photo as she read into the hidden meaning behind the words _incredibly close_. 

It wasn’t that much of a surprise really. Megamind had been under house arrest, it wasn’t like he could exactly go out and meet new people. The only people he probably saw on a daily basis were his parents and Minyn. It seemed likely that Annier would have visited him fairly frequently, she probably felt guilty about Megamind being on house arrest and wanted to do what she could to make him feel less excluded from society. She was likely the only woman around his age that he got to see, of course he was bound to catch feelings at some point.

And as far as Annier went, well, Roxanne certainly couldn’t blame her… she saw the appeal herself.

"They actually had a courtship,” Elaehna added after a moment, snapping Roxanne’s attention away from the photo. "She kidnapped him, and I had to talk her into letting him go." She added simply, shrugging as she spoke. Roxanne blinked at the words, her mind quickly cycling from the thought that a courtship among her new alien family was basically the same thing as an engagement among human standards. 

Megamind had been _engaged_.

Until his mother broke it off.

"Why would you do that?" Roxanne questioned as soon as the full realization of it settled in. Elaehna didn’t strike her as the type of person who was petty enough to break off her son’s engagement just because she didn’t like the partner he chose. Surely there had to be more to it than that. 

"Because Megs is the firstborn of a very important, very ancient bloodline,” Elaehna sighed, her eyes drifting up to meet Roxanne’s gaze as she added, “And on top of that, he's an only child."

"The whole Aevus thing,” Roxanne stated, her eyebrows furrowing together as she tried to piece together what that had to do with his previous engagement. 

"Precisely,” Elaehna confirmed, nodding once as she offered Roxanne a small, sad smile. "As an Aevus, there are certain luxuries that normal people have that we are not allowed." She explained softly, swallowing before she continued, "I knew that there would come a day when we needed him to seal an alliance or a deal. To smooth over tensions with another branch.” Elaehna explained, lifting a single hand and gesturing openly towards Roxanne before she added, "To stop a war before it ever started."

Roxanne swallowed thickly at Elaehna’s explanation. Part of her pondered what kind of world she would be living in if there had been a war. Would she even be alive right now? And if she was, what kind of a life would it be? The other part immediately began wondering if Megamind resented her in some way. He hadn’t been allowed to marry the woman he loved because his mother knew that one day they would find themselves in a situation like the one they were in now.

He’d essentially forfeited a life with someone that he’d spent two blissful years with, in exchange for a life with her.

It was becoming exceedingly obvious to her which one of them had drawn the short stick as far as this whole arrangement went. 

"He has a duty to marry for the greater good of his people, regardless of whether or not he loves his spouse,” Elaehna added quietly, her eyes flicking back down to the photo cradled in her lap. 

Roxanne fell mute for a few moments at the simple statement. Did Megamind tell her that he loved her because he knew that it would just make things simpler? He knew that he was getting married to her, that was set in stone for him; and wouldn’t it just make things easier if he told her that he loved her even if he didn’t? Why wouldn’t he want to make his already over-complicated life as simple as he could? 

Roxanne did her best to shake the thought away a moment later, clearing her throat before she finally spoke up, "What happened to them?" Elaehna quickly pulled her gaze up at the question, confusion knitting her eyebrows a half-second before she added, "Afterwards?"

Elaehna’s expression immediately cleared a bit, nodding once before she explained; "Annier left the capital city, moved to a different one. And Megs, being under house arrest couldn't exactly follow her." She paused a moment, giving the picture another thoughtful glance as she continued, "She stopped returning his calls, his emails, his letters." 

"As soon as Megs put two and two together he absolutely hated me. Until he was released early to help design the ships I hadn't seen him in almost a decade,” Elaehna confided, her eyes growing wet as she swallowed thickly. For a long moment silence lapsed throughout the room before her soft, tremulous voice managed a rough; "I suppose I have a special talent for hurting the men I care about." 

Roxanne immediately stumbled to try to come up with some sort of reassurance, not that she’d known Elaehna for long, but surely she could figure out something that would make her feel a bit better.

Thankfully, Drae took charge before Roxanne had the chance to stumble over some poorly thought out consolation. She watched as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s shoulders, pulling her slightly towards him as he gently nuzzled the side of her face with the tip of his nose. “He’ll see that you meant well eventually,” Drae offered after a moment, pulling his wife’s gaze over to him before he gave her a roguish grin. 

“I mean, come on, this young woman is clearly several steps up from his youthful fling.” He chucked, lifting his free arm and gesturing broadly in Roxanne’s direction before his voice dropped a notch lower as he added, “If anything you did him a favor.” Barely a half-second had passed before he let out a soft, rumbling growl that reminded her of the one she’d heard from Megamind during his trial logs, though Drae’s lacked any blood-curdling malice.

Elaehna shot her husband a quick, yet entirely heatless glare before playfully slapping his chest. “Behave yourself.” She scolded, earning a soft chuckle from the man as she shook her head and gave Roxanne an apologetic look. 

A moment passed before her gaze drifted back down to the photo in her lap, her expression quickly turning pensive before she offered a simple, "Megs still saw Drae, and he still had Minyn, but he needed Annier more than I realized." 

Roxanne nodded at the statement. It was perfectly understandable that he’d want more contact with people that weren’t his parents or… whatever it was that Minyn was to him. Roxanne quickly glanced over the photo once more, her eyes lingering on the bold smile plastered across Megamind’s face as Annier kissed him. "Is she on this ship?" The question escaped before she could think any better of it; the only thought on her mind being whether or not Megamind had tried to reconcile the past between him and his old partner, or if he might try to reconcile in the future. It wasn’t as though she would be particularly hard to find here on a confined spaceship.

"Yes,” Elaehna answered without hesitation, drawing in a breath before she explained, “Everyone from our branch is on this ship, and she never transferred to a different one." 

Roxanne nodded at her words, doing her best to ignore the cold, strained feeling growing in her stomach, like muscles being pulled taut to the point of pain. "Do you think they'll ever…" she cut off the question before she could ask it, shaking her head softly as she silently told herself that it would be better if she didn’t know. 

"Ever what?" Elaehna questioned curiously, her voice motherly and reassuring in a way that made Roxanne want to spill out every single fear she’d ever had to the woman. 

"I don't know…” Roxanne hedged, shrugging exaggeratedly. She was going to leave at that and hope that Elaehna would believe it’d just slipped her mind, but the genuine concern laced across the woman’s face was far more persuading than she’d anticipated. “Try to… rekindle the past?" The words were barely even a whisper by the time they managed to claw their way from her throat.

Elaehna’s expression quickly turned from motherly concern to genuine misunderstanding, her eyebrows furrowing as she tilted her head and opened her mouth to speak. However, before she could get a word out Drae’s voice was filling the room, "Did Megs not tell you?" 

"Tell me what?" Her response was automatic. Megamind had told her quite a few things, but none of them had been about his previous love life; and honestly, she wasn’t even quite sure what Drae was trying to reference. 

"That our species mates for life.” He answered simply a half-second later. 

"It's a bit hard to rekindle the past when you can't kindle anything with anyone who isn't your spouse,” Elaehna chuckled after a moment, a playful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as Roxanne mulled over the simple statement that she had heard from Megamind before. 

She was aware of the fact that his species mated for life, but was that really so foolproof? There was no way that infidelity was something that just didn’t exist in his culture, right? And even if it was impossible for his species to cheat after they settled down, there was no way that meant that they couldn’t be miserable in their relationship.

It just meant that they would be incapable of _leaving_ their miserable relationship.

The thought made Roxanne feel sick. Her and Megamind were getting married because of politics, and there was a chance that he could be miserably stuck with her for the rest of his life. And for what? A peace accord that could have just as easily been written down in ink?

Roxanne swallowed thickly at the thought, trying not to think about the possibility of her upcoming marriage turning into nothing more than a sham that made all involved parties miserable all of the time. "Right…" She muttered, shaking her head softly as she glowered at the rug under her feet.

"Why are you so concerned?" Elaehna’s gentle voice pressed after a moment, immediately drawing Roxanne’s train of thought away from the possibility of a failing marriage as she glanced up at the woman with wide eyes.

"Concerned?" Roxanne echoed, worry seeping into the single word. Was she really so easy to read? 

Drae smiled at her response, leaning in close to his wife’s ear before stage-whispering, "Because she likes him."

Elaehna brightened at the statement immediately, a beaming, hopeful smile pulling at her lips. "You like him?" The question was hushed and conspiratorial as she leaned in closer to Roxanne.

It took her a moment to shift from her mild internal crisis to the sudden prodding towards her generally messy feelings regarding Megamind. There wasn’t exactly much of a point in denying that she didn’t _like_ him… she did. 

He was generally fun to be around on the occasion that one out of the two of them wasn’t having a breakdown. And, well, she wasn’t going to say that she loved him, because she didn’t, she’d only known him for a few days for Christs sake; and honestly, she was always too wrapped up in being worried about everything that was happening to allow herself to feel much more than a general sense of lingering anxiety. 

Love was pushing it a bit too far.

But _like_ … well, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she _liked_ him.

"I…" Roxanne trailed off, giving her best attempt at a nonchalant shrug before she offered, "He's likable." 

"Likeable…" Elaehna parrotted, her tone clearly pushing for more information. 

"Yeah… you know. He's funny, and brilliant,” Roxanne offered, both traits coming easily. “And he has really pretty eyes, and he's…” Roxanne continued, her voice becoming a bit more wistful before she suddenly trailed off. She swallowed thickly at the word that _almost_ escaped before she finally decided to hell with it, it wasn’t like Megamind’s parents were going to tell him everything she said. “Attractive…" She finished a moment later, watching as the smile that was playing at the corners or Elaehna’s mouth turned into a full, toothy grin. 

"You don't just like him! You love him!" Elaehna accused a half-second later, pointing a finger at Roxanne as her bright, cheery voice echoed against the walls. 

"What?" Roxanne questioned loudly, before immediately following it up with a frantic, "No!" She shook her head quickly, but it seemed to do nothing to deter Elaehna’s playfully accusing gaze. If anything, Drae was perking up at the idea more and more with each passing second. "I don't…" She trailed off with a strangled laugh, throwing in another quick shake of her head for good measure before she managed, "I don't love him!" 

Her denial only earned her a skeptical look from the pair of aliens, and she quickly added another defense, "I've only known him for _three days_ , that's not enough time to fall _in love_ with someone."

Unfortunately, the statement, despite being entirely true, seemed to do absolutely nothing to convince her future in-laws that she wasn’t madly in love with their son. 

"Little one, you don't have to be ashamed about loving him,” Drae offered a moment after her voice faded, his tone fatherly and reassuring; however, Roxanne didn’t need reassuring, she needed them to believe her when she said that she _wasn’t_ in love with Megamind. "He's going to be your husband, it's good that you love him,” Drae added a half-second later, offering her a kind smile before he finished, "Besides, he told you that he loves you."

Elaehna’s amused expression quickly shuddered into shock and then hopeful disbelief as she whirled to her side to look at her husband. "He told her that he loves her?" The question was breathless and expectant, her eyes wide as she keenly awaited his answer. 

"He did!" Drae responded almost immediately, his voice mirroring his wife’s disbelieving yet joy-filled tone. Honestly, they both seemed so excited about it that Roxanne was starting to get a little worried. How was she supposed to explain that it was probably just a pity excuse? She didn’t want to disappoint them like that. And come to think of it, Megamind probably didn’t want to disappoint them like that either. 

Just another reason for Megamind to tell her that he loved her even if it was a lie.

"How perfect!" Elaehna exclaimed, one of her hands quickly coming up to cover her wide, toothy grin as she quickly glanced back over at Roxanne, her neon green eyes twinkling with happiness and hope. 

Roxanne swallowed at the expression. Of course his mother was happy to hear that he’d claimed to love her. It was probably some form of condolence after destroying his first engagement; and really, who was she to explain that there was a solid chance that it was nothing? Who was she to smash his mother's joy into a thousand tiny bits all over the floor? 

"I never said I loved him,” Roxanne stated sternly a half-second later, quickly deciding that if Megamind had lied to her, she would play along with it if for nothing else than his parents' benefit. "I am not in love with him." She reiterated as she lifted a hand and gestured vaguely at the woman sitting beside her.

Elaehna’s delighted expression quickly morphed into a look of smug disbelief as she stared Roxanne down for a long moment before looking back over at her husband as she nudged him in the side with her elbow. "Aww, she's in denial." Elaehna’s playful tone filled the air as Roxanne simply rolled her eyes at the statement.

"It's kind of adorable,” Drae offered a moment later, his warm tone full of affection and humor.

Well, at least being the butt of the joke was better than watching his parents happy, hopeful expressions crumble. But that sentiment didn’t stop Roxanne from huffing out a breath as she scrubbed a hand over her face, immediately earning a hearty bought of laughter from both of his parents.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us,” Elaehna offered, playfully nudging Roxanne and quickly earning another good-humored eye roll from the reporter.

"Thanks,” Roxanne offered sarcastically, straightening before she leaned back into the plush couch cushions; earning herself another chuckle from her future in-laws as Elaehna closed up the photo album sitting on her lap and placed it on the coffee table.

"Did you have any questions for us? About anything?" Elaehna asked a moment later, her voice slowly sobering up as she glanced over at Roxanne, her composed, refined expression falling back into place with practiced ease. 

For a moment, the sudden shift threw Roxanne off. Though she’d seen the same thing from Megamind before, when they’d had dinner together the first day she’d spent with him. She knew that it was just a rehearsed politicians skill to put on a face that seemed unphasable and unnervingly regal, but it always seemed so jarring whenever she saw the shift in real life.

She shook the thought away as quickly as it came. 

_Questions._

She had too many questions really. 

It wasn’t a matter of _if_ she had questions. It was a matter of which question she should _start_ with. After a quick moment of deliberation, she quickly settled on a fairly simple one.

"How do names work for you guys?" She asked curiously, watching a brief flash of confusion cloud Elaehna’s face before she quickly clarified; "I've noticed that people have the same middle and last names, and everyone goes around introducing themselves as 'first of their name' or 'third of their name'. What's up with that?" Elaehna’s expression cleared at her words, and she nodded at the question as Roxanne quickly threw in, “And what exactly does it mean to be on a chosen name basis with someone?”

"Well, to start, chosen names.” Elaehna began, clearing her throat and settling her hands in her lap. “A chosen name is, as it’s called, the name an individual chooses for themselves. At eight it’s expected that a person will have picked their chosen name, and on their eighth birthday, they get to decide whether they’d like to keep their given name, or have it legally changed to be their chosen name.” She went on, taking a quick second to seemingly compose the next part of her answer. “Most individuals choose to keep their given name, and most chosen names are just spin-offs of a person's given name, but chosen names are particularly helpful when it comes to the transgender individuals in our community.”

Roxanne hoped that the shock she felt at Elaehna’s last statement wasn’t too apparent. It wasn’t that she was surprised that their race had transgender people, it was the fact that their government seemed to be a good deal more accepting of them than her government had ever been. Part of her couldn't help but wonder how other members of the lgbt community were treated in their society.

“But, for the majority of people their chosen names are very personal,” Elaehna continued, moving away from the previous topic with ease. “Typically, the only people that refer to another person by their chosen names are extremely close friends and family members. Parents, siblings, children, mates.” Roxanne nodded at the information, trying not to think too much about the fact that Megamind told her to call him Megs less than half an hour after they met.

 _It’s not like he did it because he liked you immediately_ ; the snide, pessimistic voice in the back of her mind reminded her sternly. _He did it because he knew he was going to marry you, it had nothing to do with him considering you family. He just knew that you becoming family was an inescapable fact of life._

Roxanne did her best to swallow down the sour disappointment the thought dredged up. Honestly, she didn’t really understand why this all suddenly mattered so much to her. It wasn’t like she went into this with any expectations that either of them would fall in love, so why had it been bothering her so much to think that all of the feelings Megamind claimed to have were fabricated? Why did she care? 

_You don’t just like him! You love him!_ Elaehna’s prior accusation rang in her ears, and the next thing she knew it felt like the floor had fallen out from underneath her.

_Oh god oh god oh god..._

__

_**FUCK.** _

“And as far as given names go; first names are the only personalized form of address we have. Second and third names designate an individual's division and branch of origin respectively. And, in the case of Aveus's, our fourth names keep track of bloodlines,” Elaehna continued with her answer to Roxanne’s questions, clearly oblivious to the sudden realization the reporter just had. Really, Roxanne could barely even hear the woman over the sound of blood rushing in her ears and the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest so hard that she could feel the steady, rapid beat in her fingertips. 

She didn’t just _like_ Megamind.

She really was in love with him. Well, a form of love to be precise. It wasn’t exactly an ‘I’m ready to settle down with you for the rest of my life’ kind of love (not yet, at least). No, this sort of love was more carefree, less committed. It was fun and playful, not dedicated and undying. It was the kind of love, that sadly, crumbled when things got tough, that wasn’t willing to endure hardships.

It was the only kind of love Roxanne had ever known if she was being honest with herself. 

"The 'first of their name', 'second of their name' designation helps keep track of individuals. When middle and last names are the same, it's important to make sure that we can still tell people with the same first names apart,” Elaehna’s voice was a drone in the back of Roxanne’s mind when she first started, but as she went on her ears finally managed to focus in on the sound a bit more. 

A distraction.

She needed a distraction desperately. 

Thankfully, Elaehna was quickly turning out to be the diversion she needed from her chaotic and frantic mind. "Using Megs as an example, Mehkean is personalized. Auris is our division. Cerau is our branch. And Urvai is his primary bloodline because he's the heir to that line.” She explained, making a strange, scrunched up face before she added; “He used to have both Urvai and Suri tacked to the end, but he chose to remove the Suri part years ago." 

Now this, this could easily provide a distraction. It was a win-win really, learn more about Megamind’s cloudy past and distract herself. "Why would he do that?"

"Several reasons,” Elaehna responded immediately. “Primarily, it was because he met his grandfather on the Suri side and hated the man, wanted nothing to do with his name or legacy. Not that either of us blame him, the man is universally loathed.” She continued, her expression growing more and more annoyed as she talked about Drae’s father. Even Drae seemed to be in full agreement with her, nodding along to her words as she spoke. “But it was also because he'd likely never see Latarum leadership anyway, he's the tenth in line to rule that branch. It's rare that anyone further than third in line ever gets the position.” She added simply, shrugging as she spoke.

“What if he doesn’t want to rule at all?” Roxanne blurted out before she could think any better of it. What if his parents didn’t know that he didn’t want to be the one in charge? What if she’d just broke the news to them out of nowhere? Or at least heavily implied it.

“I’m aware that Megs doesn’t hold any fondness for the throne,” Elaehana responded immediately, her tone mildly defeated. “However, he understands duty. He may not _want_ to rule but when the time comes he will nonetheless.” She finished simply, something that felt very unavoidable lingering on the edges of her words. Like the last nail being hammered into the coffin of someone’s fate.

It was honestly a little unnerving to hear her talk about someone else's life with such finality. It was clear that Elaehna had grown accustomed to being obeyed long ago. Though that did come with the general territory of being a leader, Roxanne supposed.

“How is power transferred?” She questioned before she could get too hung up on the thought that Elaehna was more than just a potential mother-in-law who was being kind to her prospective new relative. She was the head of what was essentially a small nation. A small nation that had long been accustomed to living under an aristocratic dictatorship; because honestly, when wasn’t a genuine monarchy also a dictatorship? 

_And one day your husband will be their dictator; and after him, your child will be their dictator._

Roxanne quickly shook the thought from her mind. That wasn’t the kind of distraction she needed right now. That was the kind of distraction that would keep her up all night; not that she thought she’d be able to get much sleep tonight anyway. 

“I know it’s from ruling parent to eldest child, but what if the eldest child is dead or too young?” She pressed after a brief pause, silently hoping that the answer wouldn’t involve her potential position at all.

“Well, obviously if I were to die today Megs would take over. But, if Megs weren’t here and I died then Drae would take over leadership since I had no other children and he was my mate,” Elaehna explained, and Roxanne cringed internally at the answer. What if something happened to Megs while they were married? Who would she be to rule over a small nation of people who saw nothing but an alien when they looked at her? “In that case, I’m sure Drae come to some sort of agreement with his oldest brother that this branch would be absorbed into the Latarum branch at some point.” She added simply, earning a silent nod of affirmation from her husband. 

“If Megs happened to be a child and I died then he and Drae would split leadership between the two until he came of age; the child is more of a figurehead at that point, it’s still the mate that handles most of the daily bureaucratic necessities.” She explained, and somehow Roxanne’s stomach managed to sink even further. 

She wasn’t cut out for this. She wasn’t a politician, she was a reporter. She’d single-handedly brought down three separate politicians before by finding scandals and making them public; misuse of charity funds, well-hidden records of domestic violence, collusion with enemies of the state.

She didn’t create politicians. She _destroyed_ them.

“Leadership is transferred from parent to eldest child, but younger siblings can find themselves holding the position occasionally. After all, leadership can only be transferred to the eldest child if there _is_ an eldest child,” Elaehna continued, oblivious to the train of thought that was currently running through Roxanne’s mind. 

“Let’s say, hypothetically, that you and Megs had a child, it’s your first one,” Elaehna began, earning a short nod from Roxanne even though the reporter was only half paying attention. “Then you had a second child, and a few years after the second one comes along, the first one dies. Leadership would then go to your second-born.” She continued impartially, leaving Roxanne reeling at the thought of actually losing a child. That wasn’t common among his species, right? She certainly hadn’t heard of any child mortality since she’d been here. “But surprise, you have a third child. Both children make it to adulthood and they both have children of their own. In that case, the child of your second-born would see leadership before your third-born son or daughter did.”

"If I died and I didn't have a child or a mate then there would be a power vacuum,” Elaehna added, switching tracks with ease. "The three sister branches in our division would come together and figure out what would become of this branch. Usually, when that happens, citizens are split evenly between the remaining branches in the division." She explained, finally falling silent for more than a few seconds, which was all the opening that Roxanne needed to jump in with another question.

"Does that happen often? A bloodline just dying out?"

"It's rare. It's happened four times throughout our history." The answer came immediately, and Roxanne couldn’t help but pursue her lips into a thin line at the words. There had been fifteen alliances before Megamind and his family had contacted America, which meant that there were sixteen major bloodlines left. 

Somehow, throughout the years his species had lost a fifth of their Aevus bloodlines. 

"That doesn't sound too rare,” Roxanne hedged, some uncertainty leaking into her voice. For all she knew that could be Megamind in a few years… taken out well before his time by God only knew what. 

"Well, we've been around for roughly six-hundred millennium,” Elaehna stated simply, immediately pulling an incredulous look from the reporter.

"What?" Roxanne pressed; part of her wondering if Elaehna had mixed up the date, while the other part was simply in shock over the fact that if she was correct, their species had existed for nearly _three times_ as long as hers had. 

"Our race is a good deal older than yours,” Elaehna confirmed a half-second later, earning a lapse of silence from Roxanne before she finally managed to stutter past the entirely unexpected answer.

"Do you know how those bloodlines died out?" Roxanne almost dreaded asking the question. Judging from what she’d heard from Elaehna and Drae earlier today, the occurrence of people dying before their time, particularly people who were Aevus’s, wasn’t exactly rare. 

"They all actually died out around the same time, during the Great Rebellion of Estea,” Elaehna answered, her tone growing grim as she spoke. 

Roxanne wasn’t sure why, but her mind immediately conjured up images of a frustrated citizenship collectively rising up against the royal families that ruled them. Images of those people dying for no good reason. "What was that about?" The question was practically a whisper by the time Roxanne managed to force it past her lips.

God, she hoped it wasn’t what she thought it was.

She hoped it wasn’t what it sounded like.

"Our species used to be slaves,” Elaehna’s answer was entirely unexpected; and as bad as it sounded, Roxanne was grateful for her answer. She was grateful that it wasn’t the civil war she’d been picturing in her mind. "We didn't start out like that, but after about three hundred and seventy-five millennium on our original planet, Estea, we drew some attention from a race called the Glaupunkts." She continued with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Glaupunkts are ridiculously strong. Godlike, really," Elaehna explained after she came back to herself. "They're well known for conquering races that can't defend themselves against the threat they pose; and at that time in our existence, we weren't technologically advanced enough to protect ourselves from them." Roxanne swallowed at her words, silently wondering if humans would be capable of defending themselves against these Glaupunkt people.

"How big of a threat do they pose?" She questioned tentatively. She didn’t really _want_ to know. She didn’t need anything else to keep her up at night, like the thought of a race of ‘Godlike’ aliens finding Earth and trying to enslave humanity. 

"They're nearly invulnerable,” Elaehna answered, and really, that wasn’t particularly inspiring. “The only thing that can hurt a Glaupunkt is another Glaupunkt or concentrated dark matter. They're strong, they can lift, throw, or carry an average of five-hundred thousand tons. On any planet with an atmospheric pressure of thirty psi or lower, and a gravitational force of twenty newtons or lower, they can fly. They can shoot lasers out of their eyes that usually average out at two petawatts. They can move so quickly that time effectively stops for them. Males are usually close to seven feet tall, females are usually close to nine feet tall. The only disadvantage they have is that their lifespans are relatively short,” Elaehna finally paused in her heated explanation, and God, if Roxanne wasn’t concerned before she was certainly concerned now.

Actually… concerned wasn’t the correct term. 

_Terrified_ was far more fitting.

"They really only live to be about sixty on average, in your years,” Elaehna finished, but Roxanne couldn’t help but wonder if that was really much of a disadvantage. Sixty wasn’t exactly old, but it wasn’t devastatingly young either. Then again though, she was thinking like a human, not like an alien who’d likely see three hundred and fifty with ease. 

"And these things enslaved you?" Roxanne pressed after a moment's pause. It was hard to imagine these people being slaves, and even harder to imagine that they’d managed to escape their captors. Especially considering that their captors were practically invincible.

"It was a while ago now. We gained our freedom seventy-five thousand years ago,” Elaehna answered, swallowing thickly before she continued; “We were slaves for a hundred and fifty thousand years. Countless generations were born into and died in slavery." She fell silent as soon as the statement died, her unfocused gaze lingering on the coffee table as a pensive expression took up residence on her face. "That's what the great rebellion was,” Elaehna offered after a long moment of complete silence, her voice soft and delicate. “Slaves rebelling against their masters." 

Roxanne swallowed at Elaehna’s quiet words. She could remember the media frenzy when they’d first arrived on Earth. All of the news reports questioning who they were, what they wanted, why they came. People had been coming up with all sorts of wild theories; one of which had resurfaced time and time again, one that had been fairly plausible, had been that they were going to take over Earth and turn humans into slaves. 

God, how many times had she heard someone saying something like that? 

Several dozen at the very least.

"How long did the rebellion go on for?" Roxanne asked, her voice hushed. The question almost felt too invasive, like she was going too far. 

"Four hours." Elaehna’s answer was simple and succinct, her voice quickly regaining its usual inflections. "As I said, Glaupunkts are ridiculously strong beings. We knew that we couldn't win a long, drawn-out battle against them. So, for months there were plans and plots drafted and re-drafted over and over again until we finally figured it out." She continued, her eyes flicking up to meet Roxanne’s as she shifted slightly in her seat to better face the reporter. 

"Our race was always kept in the same compound, they didn't consider us to be ' _aesthetically pleasing_ ' enough to distribute us as personal servants.” She explained, rolling her eyes and heaving out a sigh as an annoyed grimace pulled at her lips. “Instead, we were essentially hard labor machines, we worked in the mines that the Glaupunkts forced us to dig." Roxanne tried not to picture what Elaehna was describing, but it was difficult not to. 

These people were primarily aquatic, and for a hundred and fifty thousand years they’d been forced to spend their lives underground. That in itself sounded like a custom-tailored sort of hell. 

"Anyways, in the early morning when breakfast was served to the compound guards we were always under the least surveillance, so we based our escape around that chunk of time. Over a few weeks we modified their carriers so they couldn't be shut down remotely. We stole flight manuals, had several dozen people trained up to fly the carriers we rigged, even if those pilots had no hands-on experience flying. We sent coded letters around the Amerdian barracks, telling people where to go and when to be there if they wanted to finally be free. And then, there was the decoy group,” Elaehna explained, her eyes flicking away for a brief moment as she swallowed thickly.

"The Aevus population at the end of our time as slaves was massive. We were the largest and strongest of our kind, so they spent generation upon generation selectively breeding us.” Roxanne grimaced at her words. It wasn’t as though she’d had high hopes for the way that they’d been treated as slaves. The word _slave_ sort of erased any hope that the conditions had been pleasant. But Jesus, you selectively bred _animals_. Never _people_.

“We currently have an Aevus population in the mid to low hundreds, when we rebelled, the Aevus population was in the tens of thousands,” Elaehna stated, and Roxanne almost let out a startled noise at the words. “It was an unsustainable population by any standards, and it never would have happened if they didn't force it to, but it was our saving grace.” She added, her voice taking on a resigned note before she finished; “The Aevus population started a rebellion while the rest of the Amerdian population snuck onto the ships." 

"The rebellion was a bloodbath, of course, but all seven ships we had equipped were loaded to max capacity,” Elaehna continued, tapping her fingers against her thigh for a moment before she went on, her voice darkening significantly; “Unfortunately, max capacity wasn't enough to get everyone off of the planet." She paused again, swallowing thickly and drawing in a deep breath. 

"Seven ships, forty-five thousand people,” Elaehna murmured, and Roxanne couldn’t help but wince at the number. Forty-five thousand people. That was a drop in the bucket compared to the six and a half million people living on this _one ship_. “Two of the ships were shot down. Only thirty-two thousand people escaped, and only twenty-three Aevus's made it off the planet." She continued, trailing off as she pressed her mouth into a thin line. "Four bloodlines died out because they hadn't made it onto a ship, because the ship they were on had been destroyed, or because the ones that had made it didn't have their mates with them." 

"Jesus,” Roxanne managed as thick silence began to fill the room. "Are those Glaupunkts still out there?" She pressed a half-second later, silently praying that Elaehna would tell her that they’d all died somehow.

Hell, maybe they’d fallen victim to the black-hole that these people had narrowly avoided.

The thought made her freeze for a moment. 

_Glaupunkt._

The name was familiar. She’d heard it before.

She racked her brain for the answer, thankful when it came faster than she expected.

Megamind had mentioned the word Glaupunkt the first day she’d met him.

_We even warned the adjacent Glaupunkt quadrant. But they thought we were bluffing, trying to get them to flee so we could steal their land. As if we wanted land. As if everything they had wasn’t ours to begin with._

Oh God. How had it taken her so long to realize? 

She’d thought that statement had sounded oddly sinister, but she’d just met him. How was she supposed to figure all of this out based on one little statement?

Except it hadn’t been just one little statement. Had it?

_Not all sentient creatures are generally good, Ma’am._

_They’ve only read about your species. The wars, and the violence, and the slavery. Slavery is a big deal with Amerdea’s._

This had been right in front of her the whole time and she’d never managed to piece it together. 

"Our first planet wasn't the only one they took over.” Elaehna’s quiet answer pulled her back to the present, and sent a sense of cold dread seeping into her bones. "They're on seventeen other planets as well, only one of which is truly theirs." 

"And on those sixteen planets…” Roxanne trailed off for a moment, swallowing at the thought of what she was about to ask before she finally managed to finish; “The _original_ species are all slaves?"

"Yes." The answer was simple, Elaehna’s tone blunt and detached. "Helping their other slaves has been on our to-do list. But we lost so many people when we rebelled that our first move as a species was to rebuild the population to healthy levels.” She admitted, offering Roxanne a hollow shell of a smile as she shrugged. “Even now we're only at three-quarters of our pre-slavery population for normal Amerdian’s. Half of our pre-slavery population for Aevus’s." She continued, and Roxanne balked internally at those numbers. 

Seventy-five thousand years of recovery hadn’t even brought them up to their previous standards for normal.

"And now that we're here on Earth, helping the other slaves is going to have to be pushed back again,” Eleahna sighed, a torn expression taking up residence on her face. “Right now we need to focus on building strong ties with humans, establishing ourselves here, helping reverse the damage that your kind has done to this planet." She explained, offering another too-tight smile as soon as she finished speaking.

Roxanne could tell that the disappointment wasn’t directed towards her, or even towards humanity in general. 

Elaehna’s disappointment seemed to be directed at herself. Almost as if she thought that she needed to be doing more. As if it wasn’t blatantly obvious that her plate was already too full as it was.

The woman needed more help and resources than she had at the moment, at least she did if she wanted to accomplish a sixteen planet freedom expedition.

"We could help free the other slaves.” The thought tore it’s way from Roxanne’s throat before she even really thought about it. It made sense though, didn’t it? They were about to be allies. Allies help each other. The statement, however, only managed to pull a look of confusion from the aliens sitting on the couch beside her. Roxanne swallowed before she clarified; "Humans, I mean."

Her future in-laws remained silent for a long moment after her words died, both of them staring at her with wide eyes before glancing at each other with expressions that seemed equally shocked and concerned. Roxanne shifted in her seat as the silence began to lapse on, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the suggestion. 

"That's very admirable, little one, but ill-advised,” Drae offered after another half-second, giving her a kind smile before he continued; "Humans are _much_ more fragile than we are. Your skin is thinner, your bones are less reinforced, you don't have backup organs for your most vital systems." He paused for a moment, tilting his head slightly and biting his lower lip a second before he finished, "Our species may not look like much, but we could take a much harsher beating than you could and walk away _mostly_ intact." 

It took a moment for her to absorb the full impact of the meaning behind the words, but as soon as it settled in Roxanne nodded. Humans were the weak ones here. Their help would be more of a liability than anything. 

It was a situation that was almost disturbingly similar to the one their species had encountered all of those thousands of years ago. But in this situation, their species was the powerful one, and hers was the one that was at someone else's mercy. 

"Why didn't you just wipe humans out?” The question came naturally. She hadn’t exactly bought the answer Megamind had given her before. Not that she thought he was lying to her, but his answer had been vague. He’d told her that his leadership didn’t want humans dead, and here she was sitting with _the_ leadership. If anyone would understand their motives behind sparing humans it would be the two people who _made_ the decision. “Why bother trying to make peace?" She pressed, swallowing thickly as she took in the eerily blank expressions on both of her in-law's faces as they quickly glanced at each other.

Megamind had said something that made perfect sense now that she understood his species history better.

_If we act like they did when they first came to our planet, then we are no better than them. I refuse to turn into the monsters that we worked so hard to escape._

And as much as she wanted to believe that the decision had fallen entirely to morals; to a stark remembrance of what it was like to be the small guy in the situation; his parents' reaction to the question made her feel like maybe Megamind’s reasoning behind sparing humanity and his parents reasoning differed vastly. 

"Several reasons, really," Drae stated, shrugging lightly as he spoke.

"You humans do possess some very powerful weapons,” Elaehna added as soon as her husband’s voice died. “Nuclear warheads. Those would damage the planet and all life on it irreversibly." She continued, taking a moment to seemingly mull over her next words before she went on; "Like we explained a bit earlier, Aveus's are the ones to primarily handle warfare. And we're still recovering from the Rebellion of Estea to this day. We can't really afford to lose any more of our kind right now." 

"And you humans, you're quite well adapted to this planet,” Drae spoke up almost as soon as Elaehna’s words began to fade. “We're really only adapted to the sea. Of course we can live _on land_ , but we've never been _inland_ creatures. You have deserts and ice caps, and not only you can you _survive_ in them, you can _flourish_ in such a diverse range of biomes. It's nothing short of incredible.” He explained, his voice taking on a note of marvel as he spoke. “We could be incredibly useful to each other, your landfaring abilities mixed with our seafaring ones. We’ll make a very good team."

"And that's all beside the point that we came to you,” Elaehna followed a half-second later, her voice growing softer with every word. “This is _your_ planet.” She added, her voice growing thick. “We know what it feels like to have invaders take what's yours by force. We don't _want_ to do that to you. We _want_ to share.” She continued, drawing in a quick breath before she went on. “You can keep the land, we can take the water. You weren't really using it anyway." 

A quick beat of silence filled the air, but before Roxanne really had a chance to roll any of the new information around in her head, Drae’s soft, contemplative voice was breaking the quiet; " _War_ is messy and painful.” The statement was blunt, and he swallowed at the words before continuing, “ _Marriage_ is clean-cut and gentle.” 

Roxanne swallowed thickly at the words. She was trying _not_ to think about marrying Megamind, particularly after realizing that her feelings were a bit more than a crush. Just because she loved him in a sense didn’t mean that she loved him enough to make the thought of being married to him for the rest of her life any less daunting.

If anything, the thought of marrying him when he’d been a stranger had been easier to stomach than this. At least if they got married and there was no love involved then they would both understand the terms of the marriage, like a business contract. 

But now, now things would be so messy. Now the thought of late-night cuddles curled up together on the couch under a blanket as rain pattered outside sounded appealing. Now the idea of long, lazy Sunday mornings spent wrapped up in soft blankets and each other's arms would be more than agreeable. 

At least for the time being. 

But what happened when the love wore off? Because it always did. Because she’d never been able to keep a relationship going for more than a year before it all fell apart, before the chemistry fizzled out. 

Megamind would be hurt, and she would feel guilty, and every day that they had to treat the marriage like a business transaction after that would feel awkward, and stilted, and it would all be her fault. 

“Why make war when you can make love?" Drae questioned, a hint of a chuckle tainting his voice, though Roxanne was so far down the slippery slope of worst-case scenarios that she barely even heard the man speak. "What's wrong?" The soft, concerned question snapped Roxanne’s focus back to the present moment, and the worried expressions plastered across her future in-laws' faces.

"I just…” Roxanne trailed off, clearing her throat and straightening in her seat before she tried again; “It's still kind of hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm getting _married_." She explained, drawing in a long breath as she tried to imagine what her life might be like eleven days from now. "Do you guys have a special ceremony or something?" She questioned after a lingering beat of silence.

Megamind had been helpful in explaining their courtship ritual, but he’d never touched the subject of the wedding itself. 

Besides, thinking about the wedding itself was currently preferable to thinking about what might come _after_ the wedding. Right now she just needed to figure out one thing at a time.

"Our traditional weddings and traditional human weddings are _fairly_ similar,” Elaehna answered almost immediately. "We have a ceremony with friends and family, and we have traditional vows. We don't exchange rings, there's no real point for us, they don't mix well with our traditionally aquatic lifestyle. We don't really do wedding receptions either. We just let the newlywed couple finish the ceremony on their own rather than hold them up." 

"We finish the ceremony on our own?" Roxanne questioned skeptically, part of her wondering if she’d misunderstood somehow. Was their ceremony not complete the moment an officiant pronounced two people as wed?

"Well, the ceremony isn't completed until you've imprinted on each other as mates,” Elaehna explained, offering a soft shell of a smile before quickly adding; “Or, in your case, until Megs has imprinted on you." 

"How does that work?" Roxanne questioned, looking between the two aliens sitting on the couch with her. Drae immediately let out a snort of laughter at the question, a smile creeping up on his face even though she could tell that he was trying to hide it from her. He seemed to realize what a spectacularly horrible job he was doing because he turned his face away after another second, biting down on his lower lip as his body wracked with silent laughter. 

Elaehna, on the other hand, was much better at containing her amusement. A wry smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she lifted a single eyebrow and gave her a look that all but said, _‘Come on, Roxanne. You’re a grown woman. Don’t make us explain this one.’_

"Ah…" Roxanne managed a moment later.

Right.

Sex.

She probably should have picked up on that one a bit sooner.

"Our reception is the next morning. A celebration over a marriage that's been consummated,” Elaehna continued, a bit of mirth tainting her voice as she spoke. "We're blending the two ceremonies together for you and Megs though. It's important to Drae and I that we properly reflect both cultures." She added, and Roxanne had to admit, that was a nice surprise. She hadn’t been expecting them to try to weave in any human aspects, but the fact that they were was thoughtful.

"The ceremony will be larger than normal because of the political aspect,” Elaehna explained, drawing a quick breath before she went on; “We're keeping our traditional vows. We're going to let you and Megs get each other rings and exchange them. It'll be up to the two of you whether or not you kiss publicly. Our ceremony doesn't call for it, but yours does. There will be a reception after the ceremony, consider it an interlude. Then we'll let you and Megs finish the ceremony privately until we have a second reception in the morning."

Roxanne tried not to let herself get too caught up in the small details that Elaehna had just explained. Like the fact that she’d have to find Megamind a ring, or that she had to talk to him about whether or not they wanted to kiss during the ceremony, or even the fact that she had no idea what to expect when it came to the thought of having sex with an alien. Well, she had thoughts about it... but most of them probably weren't anywhere close to realistic. 

She shook the thought away before it could settle in, choosing a much safer topic to focus on for the time being; "You and Drae are planning the wedding?"

"It's traditional for the parents to plan the wedding,” Elaehna answered, her lips pursing into a thin line a moment before she added; “We'd include your parents, but we feel like there would be too much disagreement over small things and then we'd never get it done in time."

Roxanne snorted at the conclusion they’d come to, shaking her head and smiling as she replied, "You're not wrong." She knew for a fact that if her mother was involved in the wedding in any way, shape, or form that the ceremony wouldn’t even be planned for another year. It was better that Megamind’s parents were handling it.

As the silence continued to linger and grow Elaehna shifted in her seat slightly before asking, "Any other questions?"

Roxanne sighed at the query, leaning back into the plush cushions as she ran a hand through her short hair. She had an ever-growing list of questions, but if she asked every single one of them they’d be here for days, and she really didn’t think that was the point of this part of the courtship ritual. "Too many to ask." She mumbled a moment later, part of her wondering how many years it would take for her to know everything about these people.

How was she supposed to be seen as their future leader if she didn’t know their history, culture, and standards? And how many years would it take her to get to a place where she knew them just as well as she knew her own species?

"We could give you a book,” Elaehna offered a moment later, immediately making Roxanne perk up.

"A book?" She echoed, staring at Elaehna with wide eyes as she wondered exactly what kind of book she was talking about. Was it something like a quick FAQ brochure, or would it be considerably more in-depth?

"With all of the pertinent information regarding our species,” Elaehna answered, quickly glancing around the shelves lining the living room walls as she continued; “We have a few lying around, not in English, in other various languages, but I'm sure we have a pair of translation glasses hiding around here somewhere." 

"That would be amazing,” Roxanne breathed, watching a smile quickly crept across Elaehna’s face at her answer. 

A book.

Finally, a source of information that was more difficult to manipulate than word of mouth. It was more of a relief than anything else.

"Well, it appears as though we've been sent on a scavenger hunt,” Drae quipped, earning an eye-roll from his wife as she stood up.

"Scavenger hunt,” Elaehna scoffed as she walked around behind the couch, trailing her fingers against the top of his head as she went. "When you find the glasses just make sure you update the software." She added as she pulled her hand away and continued towards one of the book-laden shelves on the back wall. 

Drae stood a moment later, making his way in the general direction of the kitchen before he disappeared behind a wall and out of sight. It felt odd, just sitting there as Megamind’s parents searched their house so they could give her a book, but before she could find her way to her feet and offer to help, Elaehna was already making her way back to the couch, a thick tome of a book cradled in one of her arms.

"We're working on getting these in English,” Elaehna stated as she held the hefty book out, and Roxanne quickly reached out to take it. A second after she got a hand under the glossy hardcover Elaehna let go, and Roxanne only partially managed to hold in the grunt that escaped her. Jesus, it was heavy. She was honestly a bit scared to see how many pages it was. 

Another wry smile twisted Elaehna’s lips as she circled back around the couch and took her original seat, clearly trying not to laugh at her reaction. “We're going to have to release them to your public fairly soon.” She added, her voice dripping with barely contained laughter. 

Roxanne tried to ignore the heat rising up on her face as she turned her attention towards the book, flipping to a random page in the middle as she took in the alien language that was scrawled across the page. Whatever language it was, the letters were more jagged, certainly not the graceful curves of the Amerdian language that she’d just started to grow accustomed to. She silently flipped to the next page, taking in the full-page picture of what had to be another one of their native animals. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before; thick, velvety looking skin, two long fins on either side of its body that trailed off into spiraling tendrils, a rear fin that fanned out behind it, which was surprisingly enough attached to what she could only assume had to be the animals head.

God, how many species had died when their planet had been destroyed? She didn’t even want to think about it. It was a travesty, really.

“If you have any questions that aren't answered in there you know where to find us,” Elaehna spoke up, drawing Roxanne’s attention from the thick tome cradled in her hands. She glanced up just in time to watch Drae saunter back into the room with a pair of white-rimmed glasses in hand, a triumphant smile plastered across his face.

"I just need to get the English update put on these.” He offered as he plopped down into his seat beside his wife and grabbed a glass tablet off of the coffee table. “One minute." He added as he tapped the screen and it lit up. Roxanne watched curiously as he opened some sort of app on the device before setting it back down on the table and placing the glasses on it. The second the two electronics touched the lenses of glasses lit up a pulsing amber color.

Wireless data exchange, she noted a half-second before she returned her attention back to the book resting in her lap. She flipped another page and found a smattering of small pictures of alien animals with long, sprawling paragraphs under each image. "This looks really well written,” Roxanne murmured softly, trailing her fingers lightly over a drawing of an ‘octopus’ with least twelve arms and six eyes.

"It covers almost everything. Our history, our cultural norms customs and traditions, our physiology, some basics of our language, our survival needs,” Elaehna explained, meeting Roxanne’s eyes as she glanced up from the pages. "Consider it a 'how to care for your new alien' guide." She chuckled, earning a soft huff of laughter from the reporter.

A half-second later, the tablet pinged and the lenses on the glasses turned bright green, drawing Roxanne’s attention back over to the table. "Glasses are ready!" Drae chirped, quickly snatching them up off the tablet before holding them out towards her. "Make sure they work." 

Roxanne nodded as she took the thick frames from his outstretched hand, unfolding the arms before slipping them behind her ears and resting the frame on the bridge of her nose. She quickly snapped the book shut and watched as the lenses seemed to scan the front cover for a second before a digital English readout spanned out just beneath the alien words, almost like captions on a TV show.

These glasses certainly weren’t as seamless at the one’s she’d worn at the museum, but then again, all of the screens in the museum had been digital. Manipulating print was doubtlessly more difficult. 

Scrawling beneath the large, jagged, alien letters making up the title, were the simple words; _The Amerdian Encyclopedia. Your guide to your new intergalactic neighbors. Encux Edition. Ver 1.6_

"They work great,” Roxanne breathed as she flipped open the cover, passing the few blank pages in the front of the book before lingering on the first one with words. It took a moment for the glasses to process the alien language scrawled out before her, but a moment later and index began popping up in English.

"Wonderful,” Drae stated, settling back into his seat as he added; “Just make sure you leave them in the sun so they can charge. The lenses are solar powered."

Roxanne huffed out a breath of a laugh at that, glancing up and pulling the glasses from her face as she quickly looked over them. The lenses were solar, which meant that they had a battery hidden somewhere in the frames, along with a processor and some form of memory to store languages and hold the translated information. And on top of that, they had to have cameras hiding somewhere, there was only one way that the glasses could see the words they needed to translate after all. "Your technology is kind of amazing." She breathed as she turned them around in her hands.

If she was in a store she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between these and any other pair of glasses. Even the weight was similar.

"We reverse-engineered a good deal of it from Glaupunkt technology,” Drae replied, offering her a sheepish smile before he added, “We were fairly primitive before they took over." 

Roxanne swallowed at the reminder of their previous conversation, not that she thought it would ever be something she could forget. How was she supposed to respond to something like that. It wasn’t like a simple, ‘I’m sorry you went through that’ would suffice, especially when they’d lost so much as a result, and especially when Drae was clearly trying to stretch to see what was possibly _the only_ good thing that came from it.

Elaehna cleared her throat pointedly as the suffocating silence lapsed on, shifting slightly in her spot before changing the topic; "It's about lunchtime. If you'd like we can take you back to your suite so you can drop off the book and then get some food." 

Roxanne quickly nodded at the offer. She wasn't particularly hungry, but getting out into public sounded nice. And if there was anything that would open up some natural conversation about things that didn't involve crimes against humanity, it was external stimuli. "Food would be great."

Elaehna smiled at her answer, lifting a hand and lightly smacking her husband's chest as she gave him a quick once-over. "We'll go put on some real clothes then." The statement managed to be both pointed and playful as she raised an eyebrow at the man, only to earn a hefty sigh and a quietly grumbled 'these are real clothes', from him. 

Elaehna seemingly ignored the quiet statement, offering Roxanne a smile as she continued, "Give us a moment, please." 

"Of course." Roxanne nodded at the request, watching as Elaehna stood and lightly tapped Drae on the shoulder twice as she started towards a hallway Roxanne hadn't been down. 

Drae remained sitting for a moment longer, huffing out a long breath before quickly shooting Roxanne a mildly annoyed look as he stood up and stiffly started after his wife.

Roxanne let out a soft chuckle as the two of them disappeared out of sight. Megamind's parents were cute together, and they got along so much better than she ever remembered her parents getting along. It was hard to believe that their relationship had gotten off on the rocky start they'd told her about earlier. 

She shook the thought away as she returned her attention to the book in her lap, opening the glasses and placing them on her face again before flipping the book open.

She skipped past the index, foreword, and introduction before stopping on the first real page of the book. It took a moment for the glasses to start working, but as soon as they did she was glad she stopped. The large, single-worded heading laid out across the top in bold letters: _Language_

_Listed below are a few words and phrases that are common in the Aezuin language, the primary language spoken by the Amerdian species. Proper pronunciation is included, improper pronunciation could lead to misunderstandings._

_This is not a complete guide to the Aezuin language, but rather a short compilation of important or culturally significant words._

_Grammar is not addressed. This is meant as a vocal guide only._

_R's are always rolled. Double L's make a Y sound._

_Hello // Varah // vah-rah_  
_Thank you // mikoh // me-co_  
_Pardon me // rejahkah // ray-jaw-caw_  
_How are you // enereikoh // en-ay-ray-co_  
_Goodbye // Varoh // vah-row_  
_Central // zeyreya // zay-ray-uh_  
_Division // zeyrihya // zay-re-uh_  
_Branch // zeyralla // zay-rahl-uh_  
_Divine Guidance //Aevurlla // a-vur-yuh_  
_Revered Guidance // Aezarlla // a-zar-yuh_  
_Divine one // Aevus // a-vus_  
_Hell // Xalax // ax-lax_  
_Heaven // Mehkala // meh-kahl-uh_  
_Mate // raavum // rah-vum_  
_I love you // raashivom // rah-she-vohm_  
_My chosen and beloved // ronackah raashivumkah // row-nah-caw raw-she-vum-caw_  
_Friend // kaalarya // kahl-are-yuh_  
_Parent // alhreylla // all-ray-ya_  
_Sibling // aeghiaon // a-chay-on_ _Child // aillok // i-yahk_

She sounded out each word as she made her way down the list, painfully aware of the fact that words sounded choppy in her mouth. She’d have to focus on trying to get accustomed to speaking in the same lilting accent Megamind and his family spoke with. 

"Ready to go, Roxanne?" Elaehna’s bright voice immediately snapped her attention away from the page, startling her enough to make her jolt slightly in her seat.

"Oh, yes!" Roxanne answered, quickly fumbling to pull the glasses from her face and close the arms as a hearty chuckle filled the air from behind her.

"Unless you'd like more time with your new book,” Elaehna suggested, her tone playful as her voice grew closer.

"No! There's plenty of time for reading later,” Roxanne stated as she quickly snapped the cover shut with a loud thwap; standing up and whirling around only to come stuttering to a complete stop.

"Wow…" She breathed as she quickly took in her future in-laws. When Elaehna had mentioned changing into ‘real clothes’, Roxanne certainly hadn’t expected formal attire.

At least she assumed it was formal attire.

Just like everything on the ship, the clothes were crisp white with the same teal accents everyone's clothes had, albeit in slightly different spots. A long-sleeve jacket made up the bulk of the outfit. It clasped at the base of her throat, the collar shorter than what Roxanne was used to seeing them wear; though she had to admit the cut made her notice for the first time just how long their necks were. 

It was split unevenly from the side, golden buttons cascading down in two gently-curving arcs that ended at the hem at the bottom of the coat. The bottom hem was asymmetrical, three different lengths cascading down like a waterfall, the longest one reaching her knee. 

Three teal dashes marked the lower arms of the jacket, a bright dash of color that made the gold buttons on either one of her wrists stand out that much more. A layered gold and teal pocket square was tucked neatly into a pocket at her breast, the layered pieces of fabric folded into a tight point. Right beside the topmost button, a hefty looking, tri-pronged medallion that Roxanne recognized as the fastener for Megamind’s capes was pinned into the fabric; three long, loose, golden chains arcing from it, spanning across her chest to her arm, where an identical medallion held them in place.

Her cape was almost identical to the one she was used to seeing Megamind wear. It was pinned across her body in a way that made sure not to cover any of the embellishments on the outfit, draping over her shoulder and flowing smoothly towards the floor. Really, the only way that it was different, was that while Megamind’s cape was pure white, hers had a shimmering golden liner on the inside. 

Plain white pants that were just a little baggier than the form-fitting material of their jumpsuits made up the rest of the outfit. Along with a simple pair of flats that, in the traditional Amerdian fashion, were as white as freshly fallen snow.

It was beautiful. And it matched the one Drae was wearing, though his lacked the chains draping across Elaehna’s chest, and it clung to his frame in a way that emphasized his shoulder to hip ratio while Elaehna's hugged her curves just a bit more tightly. 

"A compliment I hope?" Elaehna chuckled, and it took Roxanne a moment to remember that she’d said anything to begin with.

"Definitely a compliment,” Roxanne affirmed, nodding as she spoke. "What's with the capes?" She questioned a half-second later, lifting her free hand and gesturing broadly to her shoulder and the area around her back as she added, "The only other person I've ever seen with one is Megs."

"They're a status symbol," Elaehna answered immediately, offering a smile as she started towards the foyer, gesturing for Roxanne to follow her. "All Aevus's get one. You'll get one too once you and Mehkean are wed." She added as she paused before the front door, her hand lingering lightly on the knob as she waited for Drae and Roxanne to file into the small space.

"But I'm not an Aevus,” Roxanne deadpanned, quickly glancing between Elaehna and Drae as she spoke. She wasn’t even an Amerdian. Surely they wouldn’t just go throwing a cape at her when everyone saw an outsider when they looked in her general direction. If it really was such a defining status symbol then surely they’d try to keep it as unadulterated as possible.

"No,” Elaehna agreed as she pulled open the door and gestured her and Drae out into the hallway. “But you'll be married to one, and a persons mate is always their equal. Ergo, his status will also be your status." She explained as she stepped out into the hallway after them, pulling the door shut with a soft click before Roxanne heard the quiet whir of deadbolts locking into place.

"So does that mean he's just a run of the mill news reporter when he's on American soil?" Roxanne chuckled, smiling at Elaehna as the woman stepped up beside her and rested a gentle hand on her upper back as she started towards the elevator down the hallway.

Elaehna laughed at the question, shaking her head slightly as they came to a stop before the polished doors of the elevator. "Do you intend to keep your job?" She questioned curiously, giving Roxanne a quizzical look as she quickly punched a code into a glowing blue panel laid into the wall, just like she’d seen Minion do when he’d brought her down here.

Roxanne swallowed at the question as the elevator doors slid open, frozen in place long enough for both Elaehna and Drae to step inside before she finally willed herself to move. "Am I… not allowed to?" She asked tentatively, worry leaking into her voice as she spoke.

The way Eleahna asked made her wonder if she’d be expected to give reporting up; if she’d have to sacrifice the old life she knew to make this new one work. It was a mildly terrifying thought. She’d spent nearly the last decade of her life working to become the lead investigative reporter for the KMCP, and she certainly wasn’t ready to give up the title less than three years after having finally obtained it.

She’d never once wondered if she’d have to give up her job to marry Megamind, and if she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to make this whole thing work if she needed to sacrifice so much. 

"You are allowed to,” Elaehna answered, and Roxanne nodded at the words as she forced herself to step inside the elevator, relief flooding over her. "But there will be certain… safety measures, put in place." 

"Safety measures?" Roxanne parroted as the doors slid shut behind her and the elevator began to climb.

"You'll be married to an alien prince. You'll be a fairly conspicuous target,” Elaehna answered, her mouth pressing into a thin line before she continued; “It probably doesn't come as much of a surprise to know that there are humans that don't want us here at all. Alien Overlords, they like to call us." Roxanne nodded at her words. She was well aware of the news stories that began circulating as soon as that first meeting with the Queen of England happened. Some had been hopeful, but others had been dreadfully paranoid. Some people choose to look at the good they might be able to accomplish, and others chose to believe that human slavery and the destruction of the Earth was imminent. 

"Those individuals might try to remove you from the equation altogether,” Elaehna explained, and Roxanne swallowed thickly at the statement. She’d never thought far enough ahead to consider that. Her own people turning on her just because they didn’t approve of the man she was married to. Still though, she knew Elaehna was right. It would only be a matter of time before some paranoid anti-alien fanatic tried to punish her for marrying one, or before they tried to use her to hurt Megamind somehow. "You'll need bodyguards if you do choose to keep your job,” Elaehna added as the elevator slid to a stop and the doors opened.

Roxanne shook her head lightly as she stepped out of the elevator and into the labyrinthine hallways that made up the residential wing of the ship. It was hard to imagine a life where she left the house with bodyguards trailing along behind her. Where she was escorted everywhere all of the time. Where she had to ensure her safety, but give up a good deal of her freedom in order to keep it. 

She didn’t want that. 

"I'm not that important,” Roxanne muttered, shaking her head as she tried to clear her thoughts.

"You are," Elaehna reiterated seriously, stepping out and stopping in front of her as she lifted a hand and gently tipped Roxanne’s head up so she could look her in the eyes. "You're about to marry the Aezarlla. And as he's an only child, and as our species mates for life, you and you alone will hold the future of this bloodline, and this branch, in your hands,” Elaehna stated, her voice sober as her neon green eyes bored into Roxanne. 

"If something were to happen to you before Mehkean had an heir, the futures of six and a half million people would suddenly be uncertain,” Elaehna added, her hand falling away from Roxanne’s chin as she wrapped a slender arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently down the hallway, forcing her stiff legs to move. "Power vacuums have occasionally been known to come with body counts." She added softly, and Roxanne swallowed at the statement.

"And that's without me even considering the personal toll your loss would take on Megs,” Elaehna continued, her voice taking on a lighter tone as she shifted the subject away from her citizens. “Our mates are more than just someone we share our beds with. They’re our best friends, they’re our most trusted confidants, they’re the ones we can open up to about our fears and concerns with complete confidence that they won’t ridicule or exploit our weaknesses, they’re the ones that are with us for our entire lives when our parents die and our children move on.” 

Roxanne tried not to allow herself to feel overwhelmed by everything Elaehna was saying, but it was a little hard not to. Sure, Megs was definitely her friend. And yeah, she trusted him in the basic sense that she trusted most people, that they would act like decent human beings; but there was a ton of stuff that she hadn’t opened up to him about, and honestly, she knew that there was plenty more that he wasn’t ready to open up with her about either. She had to find out that he’d been engaged before from his parents, for christ's sake. 

And sure, maybe someday they might be like that; but that would take _years_ , and really, there was no guarantee that everything would work out so flawlessly in the end.

If there was one thing that Roxanne knew, it was that life wasn’t a Disney movie.

Not everyone got a happy ending in life.

“There’s a reason the word for mate in our language is the same word we use for eternity,” Elaehna chuckled, and Roxanne let out a shaky breath at the quip.

“We would never take away your right to a traditional job, but it's a simple truth that if you do choose to keep it you will be very tightly pressed. Between reporting and political duties you’ll be busy.” Elaehna explained, letting her arm fall away from Roxanne’s shoulders as they rounded a corner and continued down another long corridor of doors. “Not to say it’s impossible, it’s not.” She quickly added, drawing a short breath before she went on. “But you will be very involved in politics, particularly where your people are involved. You’re the bridge that will close the gap between our two cultures, the one among us who will best understand how to handle volatile human affairs, the one who will prevent misunderstandings from happening in the first place. Eventually, there will be conferences, and summits, and alliances where your presence will be irreplaceable.” 

God.

She couldn’t do this.

She couldn’t. She’d mess something up eventually, it was inevitable, and then she’d have to deal with the weight of whatever horrible thing happened as a result resting on her conscience for the rest of her life. It was a lot of pressure to live under.

Too much pressure.

“Elaehna, you’re scaring her,” Drae’s soft voice filled the hallway a moment later, and Roxanne quickly shook her head at the statement.

“I’m not scared, I…” She trailed off midway through her defense, clearing her throat quickly before finishing; “I’m just a little overwhelmed.” Overwhelmed at the thought of helping lead a race of people to whom she was an outsider, overwhelmed with the knowledge that eventually she was going to have to give up reporting in favor of taking on politics as a full-time job, overwhelmed with the worry that her upcoming marriage wouldn’t turn out happy or that she’d make a terrible parent when that time finally came around.

There were just a lot of unknown variables, was all.

And a lot of choices that she knew were going to be made for her as a result of the circumstances she was finding herself in.

"That's the same thing, little one,” Drae offered kindly as he lengthened his strides just a bit so he could fill the space between her and Elaehna. 

"We aren't going to throw you into everything all at once. It'll be a gradual induction,” Elaehna reassured her, peeking at her over her husband's shoulder before she cleared her throat and added; "And with all the mate stuff… I wasn't saying that you need to be all of those things for Megs. I was just… attempting to make a point." 

Roxanne couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the lame defense. "Right,” Roxanne scoffed, shaking her head as she immediately continued, "I don't need to be all of those things for Megs, but everyone would highly prefer it if I were." 

Elaehna and Drae fell deadly silent at the retort, the only sounds filling the air were the soft footsteps that echoed up off of the smooth floor. "Is that wrong of me?" Elaehna questioned quietly a moment later, glancing over at Roxanne with a clearly conflicted expression. "Of course I want my son to be happy. I want him to have a genuine, loving relationship.” She explained, swallowing thickly and quickly glancing down at the ground before she somberly added; “However, I understand that it's unfair to you to expect that." 

Roxanne let out a soft sigh at Elaehna’s explanation. Jesus, now she just felt like a heel. "It's not wrong of you to want him to be happy. I…” She cut herself off abruptly, swallowing as she finished the statement in her head; _I want him to be happy too._

"I just…" Roxanne signed, running her free hand through her hair as she finally managed a coherent sentence; "My whole life people have expected me to live up to their standards. What they want me to do. Who they want me to be. How many kids they want me to have. It's just a pet peeve of mine, having people expect me to be something I'm not. The fact that they have expectations for my life in the first place." She explained, letting her hand flop limply back to her side as she readjusted the weight of the book in her arm.

"Pet peeve…" Drae muttered quietly, seeming to mull over the simple words.

"A human colloquialism, I believe," Elaehna replied softly a half-second later, and Roxanne immediately realized that the language barrier was getting in the way. 

"It's something that annoys you." She explained, blowing out a rough breath before adding, "Regardless of when it happens, or where it happens, or who does it." 

"Ah," Drae murmured, a note of understanding leaking into his voice as he glanced over at his wife and offered a simple, "Xartayn." 

Another beat of silence lapsed on between the three of them as they rounded another corner. "Roxanne…" Elaehna's careful voice broke the quiet, immediately pulling her attention over to the woman. "You do understand that as soon as you marry Mehkean everyone will have expectations… right?" The question was clearly well-intentioned, and in all honesty, she knew that some degree of public speculation would have to be anticipated. She just didn't want to think about something she was dreading. 

"Regardless of who they are. They'll expect you to do what they want you to do, be who they want you to be, have as many children as they want you to have. It's inevitable. It comes with the territory. It's the penalty for being a public figurehead," Elaehna continued, her voice gentle. 

Roxanne knew she was right. She knew that the moment she made her first truly public appearance with Megamind that suddenly his people, and her people, would think they had a say in whatever was going on between them. 

It was one of those simple facts of life that she hated thinking about. 

"Does it not bother you?" She questioned curiously a moment later, glancing over at Elaehna as she watched a small smile curl the edges of her mouth. 

"Why would the opinions of those who I don't know bother me?" She answered with a question of her own, and Roxanne had to admit, she admired that sort of mentality. She'd heard similar advice before from coworkers, that she shouldn't allow the critics of her segments to get on her nerves so much, but sometimes they were just too difficult to ignore. "There's a secret to this life, people can only bother you if you give them the power to do so." 

"You have an incredible amount of potential to be a wonderful leader and politician," Elaehna continued, every word sincere. "You saw right through me earlier, despite the flowery words and reassurances, you understood my base motives." She explained, her tone approving. "And have you ever allowed anyone's expectations of you to dictate your life? Or have you stood up for what you believed in and remained yourself even when it made you a 'calloused bitch', or a 'heartless ice queen', or an 'ignorant child'?" 

Roxanne swallowed at the question, shaking her head softly before quietly muttering, "Jesus, your starting to sound like my mom after her third glass of Jack." 

Elaehna shot her a sympathetic smile at the remark, swallowing before she offered, "The words sting less when you realize that they're just an attempt to tear down a bold, powerful, unapologetic woman." Roxanne nodded at the statement, doing her best to take solace in the reassurance. 

Elaehna must have taken the lapse of silence as trepidation though, because a moment later she added; "Those who were born to kneel often try to drag us down to their level so they feel more secure in themselves." 

Roxanne swallowed thickly at her words. God. Sometimes Elaehna seemed like a benevolent sage, and other times she sounded eerily similar to a dictator. It was… unnerving. 

She really needed to talk to Megamind about his values in regards to politics. At least so far he seemed to be far more humble than his mother was, so that was certainly a step in the right direction.

As they neared the end of the hallway Roxanne quickly noticed the curled and dashed symbol that denoted her door and lengthened her strides.

She just needed a moment to collect herself. She needed to shove away all of the thoughts of dictators, and worries about the future. She just needed to clear her mind and come back out with a fresh set of eyes. And then tomorrow, when Megamind came back, she could finally get some more answers. Answers about how he felt, answers about his family's reign, answers about what shaky future might be laid out in front of them.

"I'll be right back," Roxanne offered cheerfully, shooting a grin over her shoulder before flinging her door open and all but fleeing inside, gently closing it behind her.

As soon as the door was shut she relaxed against it, closing her eyes and tilting her head towards the roof as she focused on breathing deeply. 

She was just reading into things too much. She just needed to let some of the weight off of her shoulders and focus on having a good time.

Megamind would be back tomorrow, and he'd clear all of this up then.

She let out a long, controlled breath as she righted herself and started towards the coffee table so she could set down the book and the glasses and steel herself in to head back outside. 

But really, the whole time she should have been clearing her mind, all she could think about was the fact that the only people on this ship that she had any trust in were Megamind, Minyn, and perhaps Drae. 

She didn't dislike Elaehna. She admired her, really. But at the same time… she was a politician, and Roxanne had spent enough time around politicians to know that truly good ones were few and far between.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a side note, I based the Aevus formal attire off of the Indian Sherwani, if anyone was curious.


End file.
